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>> Amir Farnoud (far right),
students, and colleagues tested the impact of e-cigarette vapors and cigarette smoke by using a small mechanical device that simulates the movements of the lungs.
PHOTOS: BEN SIEGEL
BREATH WORK Researchers take a close look at the impact of e-cigarette vapors on the lungs mir Farnoud has long been interested in what happens to the fluids in the lungs when nanoparticles—which hold promise as a new way to deliver drugs to the body—are inhaled. But Farnoud started to notice an interesting response to his research presentations: People kept asking about the impact of cigarette smoke— not to mention the vapors from the newly popular e-cigarettes—on the lung fluids. “I kept searching and couldn’t believe that this information didn’t exist,” says Farnoud, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio University. Farnoud, colleagues, and students in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology recently completed a study aimed at answering questions about the physiological impact of e-cigarettes. The research revealed some good news, but also some caveats about the practice commonly known as “vaping.” The fluids in the lungs need substances called surfactants to maintain the right amount of surface tension so the organs can effortlessly expand and contract with each breath, Farnoud explains. For example, because premature babies may lack surfactants, they may experience impaired lung function that requires medical treatment. For their study, Farnoud’s team placed surfactants in a small mechanical device that simulates the
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movements of the lung during the intake and exhalation of breath. Researchers exposed the surfactants to the smoke of one tobacco cigarette, and then to the vapors of three different flavors of e-cigarette (which have more chemicals than non-flavored varieties, he explains). The engineers found that the chemicals in the vapor did not affect the surface tension of the surfactants. The tar from the conventional cigarettes, however, did increase the surface tension of the lung fluid, which could compromise lung function. Farnoud’s team made one observation that puzzled them: The vapors did induce some changes to the structure of the lung surfactant, although not as profoundly as the cigarette smoke did. Farnoud is unsure of the significance of this finding but plans to study it further, perhaps by exposing the surfactants to the vapors for longer periods of time.
1804 FUND GRANT RECEIVED Farnoud and colleagues across campus received a $49,000 grant from the OHIO 1804 Fund in 2017 to purchase nanotechnology research equipment.