Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from mainstream cigarettes smoke and vaping E-cigarettes product brands marketed in Saudi Arabia and its risk assessment

Abstract Background PAHs are a class of chemicals that occur naturally, and these contaminants may cause cancer and other harmful effects in human beings. The mainstream cigarettes smoke and vaping E-cigarettes contain many PAHs. Method In terms of linearity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, accuracy (%), and precision (%), the two in-house lab setups for 7PAHs extraction from mainstream cigarettes smoke and vaping E-cigarette were validated using high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection. Results The concentration of Σ7PAHs for mainstream cigarettes smoke and vaping E-cigarettes ranged from 6.23 ± 0.04 ng/cig to 75.61 ± 0.02 ng/cig, and ND to 3.56 ± 2.71 ng/puff. The PAHs recovery in mainstream cigarettes smoke and vaping E-cigarettes ranged from 92.74-110.45%, and 97.20-111.74%. The toxicity of equivalent (TEQs) of carcinogens revealed that mainstream cigarettes smoke brands have higher TEQs than vaping E-cigarettes. Conclusion This study highlights the detection of 7PAHs levels in product brands for mainstream cigarettes smoke and vaping E-cigarettes marketed in Saudi Arabia.