Scope
The primary objective of this project is the experimental study of pollutant emissions from new tobacco products (heated tobacco products, and herbal vaporizers), focusing on the identification of gases produced by herbal products (tea sticks and dry herbs). This will provide a detailed mapping of the pollutants emitted based on the matrix and operating conditions, as well as methodological protocols for studying emissions from new tobacco products. The study aims to identify particulate and gaseous pollutants (such as PM, BC, CO, and organic compounds) under controlled conditions, establishing methodological protocols and comparative data to evaluate their impact on air quality and health compared to existing data.
Budget: €60,000, from the Research Committee of the HOU
Start Date: 01/01/2022 – End Date: 30/08/2025
Deliverables
1st Semi-Annual Report: Web-based research to identify the most common herbs used for vaping and initial selection of representative samples.
1st Annual Report: Development of a customized experimental protocol and instrumentation for measuring emissions specifically from tea sticks and dry herb vaporizers.
- Submission to an international conference:
C. Tsipa, L. Desprez, V. Langlois, N. Matsouki, Z. Gareiou and E. Zervas, (2022), Tracing herb vaporizer geographies with Google Trends, 3nd International Conference on Environmental Design, 22-23 October, Athens, Greece
C. Tsipa, V. Langlois, L. Deprez, N. Matsouki, Z. Gareiou and E. Zervas, (2022), Commercially available herbal products for vaping (poster), 3nd International Conference on Environmental Design, 22-23 October, Athens, Greece (virtual)
2nd Semi-Annual Report: Experimental measurement of Particulate Matter (PM), Black Carbon (BC) and Carbonyl emissions from commercial dry herb samples generated by in-house instrumentation.
2nd Annual Report: Experimental measurement of Particulate Matter (PM) Black Carbon (BC) emissions from commercial tea sticks generated by in-house instrumentation.
- Submission of paper to an international journal:
Zervas, Efthimios & Matsouki, Niki & Tsipa, Chara & Katsaounou, Paraskevi. (2024). Particle emissions from heated tobacco products. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation.
3rd Semi-Annual Report: Experimental measurement of Particulate Matter (PM) Black Carbon (BC) emissions from commercial tea sticks and dry herb samples. An advanced analytical equipment coupled with a specialized delivery system for HTP aerosol production
- Submission of paper to an international journal:
Niki Ε. Matsouki, Chara F. Tsipa, Zoe A. Gareiou, Efthimios N. Zervas. (2025) Carbonyl emissions from heated tobacco products, Tobacco Prevention & Cessation, in print.
- Submission to an international conference:
E.Zervas,N.Matsouki, Ch.Tsipa, E.Konstantinidis, Z.Gareiou, (2023), Are herb vaporizers a low-risk alternative to tobacco products? Emission of particles from dry chamomile in an herb vaporizer, 9th European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH), 26-28 April, Madrid, Spain
E.Zervas, N.Matsouki, Ch.Tsipa, (2023), PM emissions from dry chamomile vaporization, European Aerosol Conference, September 3-8, Malaga (Spain)
E. Zervas, N. Matsouki, Ch. Tsipa and P. Katsaounou, (2023), Particle emissions from heated tobacco products, European Aerosol Conference, September 3-8, Malaga (Spain
Efthimios Zervas, Chara Tsipa, Niki Matsouki, Manos Konstantinidis, Zoe Gareiou, (2023), Herb vaporizers are not safe for health. Particles emissions from dry chamomile vaporization, European Respiratory Society International Congress, 09-13 September, Milan, Italy
Tsipa, Chara; Matsouki, Niki; Bekou, Evaggelia; Makrygianni, Maria; Zervas, Efthimios, (2024), Herb vaping produces carbonyls in mainstream smoke, European Respiratory Society International Congress, 7–11 September, Vienna, Austria
Ch. Tsipa, N. Matsouki, E. Bekou, M. Makrygianni, E. Zervas, (2024), Particle emissions from herbal tea sticks used in an HTP device, European Aerosol Conference, 25-30 August, Tampere, Finland
Ch. Tsipa, N. Matsouki, E. Bekou, M. Makrygianni, E. Zervas, (2024), Emissions of carbonyls form dry herb vaping, 5rd International Conference on Environmental Design, 18-20 October, Athens, Greece (virtual)
Ch. Tsipa, N. Matsouki, E. Bekou, M. Makrygianni, E. Zervas, (2024), Εmissions from dry chamomile vaping, 5rd International Conference on Environmental Design, 18-20 October, Athens, Greece (virtual)
3rd Annual Report & Final Report: Completion of the emission database for teasticks and dry herbs, final evaluation of findings, and successful PhD thesis defense “Pollutant emissions from new tobacco products”.