Does Conservation of Mass Make This "Health Study" Invalid?

[Levitikuz]

This is a study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine done on the safety of e-cigs or better known as vaping.

The article states, "They found that vaping 3 milligrams of e-cigarette liquid at a high voltage can generate 14 milligrams of loosely affiliated or "hidden" formaldehyde."

How does 3 milligrams of matter, or mass, turn into 14 milligrams of mass?

If I understand Conservation of Mass correctly mass can neither be created or destroyed, it just changes forms.

Is what I'm suggesting completely off-base, or is the above citation entirely impossible, physically?

 

[berkeman]

This is a study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine done on the safety of e-cigs or better known as vaping.

The article states, "They found that vaping 3 milligrams of e-cigarette liquid at a high voltage can generate 14 milligrams of loosely affiliated or "hidden" formaldehyde."

How does 3 milligrams of matter, or mass, turn into 14 milligrams of mass?

If I understand Conservation of Mass correctly mass can neither be created or destroyed, it just changes forms.

Is what I'm suggesting completely off-base, or is the above citation entirely impossible, physically?

Welcome to the PF.

I'm guessing it has to do with the act of combustion (using oxygen from the air). I'll move this thread to the Chemistry forum where it will get better answers on this chemistry question.

 

[Levitikuz]

Welcome to the PF.

I'm guessing it has to do with the act of combustion (using oxygen from the air). I'll move this thread to the Chemistry forum where it will get better answers on this chemistry question.

But there is no "combustion" during vaping, that's the whole point.

 

[Levitikuz]

Welcome to the PF.

Oh, and thanks.. just trying to reach out to smart people lol

 

[Borek]

You are right, it doesn't make any sense. Formaldehyde is one of the products of the decomposition, I suppose it can also appear between products of a partial combustion. While it is definitely possible to decompose delicate organic compounds at the temperature required to vaporize e-cigarette liquid, there is no way of producing 14 mg formaldehyde out of 3 mg of any decomposing compound. Even taking combustion and air oxygen into account there is simply no way to get that high increase in mass. Clearly something is wrong.

 

[Levitikuz]

You are right, it doesn't make any sense. Formaldehyde is one of the products of the decomposition, I suppose it can also appear between products of a partial combustion. While it is definitely possible to decompose delicate organic compounds at the temperature required to vaporize e-cigarette liquid, there is no way of producing 14 mg formaldehyde out of 3 mg of any decomposing compound. Even taking combustion and air oxygen into account there is simply no way to get that high increase in mass. Clearly something is wrong.

Thank you for the reply

 

[Ygggdrasil]

This is a study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine done on the safety of e-cigs or better known as vaping.

The article states, "They found that vaping 3 milligrams of e-cigarette liquid at a high voltage can generate 14 milligrams of loosely affiliated or "hidden" formaldehyde."

Are you reading the source correctly? Here's a link to the NEJM article: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1413069

Here's the relevant quote:

an e-cigarette user vaping at a rate of 3 ml per day would inhale 14.4±3.3 mg of formaldehyde per day in formaldehyde-releasing agents

3 mL would have a mass of >3g, so you're off by three orders of magnitude!

 

[Levitikuz]

Are you reading the source correctly? Here's a link to the NEJM article: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1413069

Here's the relevant quote:3 mL would have a mass of >3g, so you're off by three orders of magnitude!

Sorry, didn't realize, I was reading the study from NBCNEWS at http://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/you-vape-high-levels-formaldehyde-hidden-e-cigs-n290826