Abstract
The goal of this project was to investigate the effects that the products present in the components of e-cigarettes would have on the cellular level. It was postulated that the presence of heavy metals or other reactive oxidative species (ROS) would cause damage and either mutate the cells or result in cellular death. The experiments that were carried out focused heating element and the vape juice. The experiments regarding the heating element involved treating the media with an electrified heating element then observing the effect on the cells. There were significant limitations with this study so most of the data came from the vape liquid experiment. The vape liquid experiments involved treating the media with an absolute ethanol and specific value of vape liquid present in a low and high concentration test group. The reasoning for the addition of the absolute ethanol will be discussed later, and a test group treated with ethanol was ran to prevent any inaccurate attribution of damage to the wrong substances. The results showcased that there was a mitogenic quality to the vape juice tests with cellular proliferation rates increasing. Although, p53 data was not able to be obtained, it was thought that there would be p53 expression due to potential DNA damage or damage to the cell cycle checkpoints.
Semester/Year of Award
Fall 11-29-2022
Mentor
Oliver Oakley
Mentor Department Affiliation
Biological Sciences
Access Options
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
Bachelor Thesis
Degree Name
Honors Scholars
Degree Level
Bachelor's
Department
Biological Sciences
Recommended Citation
Chafin, Braxton A., "The Mutagenic and Cytotoxic Effects of Exposure to Heavy Metals and other Oxidative Species from E-cigarettes on Epithelial Cells" (2022). Honors Theses. 931.
https://encompass.eku.edu/honors_theses/931
