Characterisation of a Vitrocell® VC 10 in vitro smoke exposure system using dose tools and biological analysis

Background The development of whole smoke exposure systems have been driven by the fact that traditional smoke exposure techniques are based on the particulate phase of tobacco smoke and not the complete smoke aerosol. To overcome these challenges in this study, we used a Vitrocell® VC 10 whole smoke exposure system. For characterisation purposes, we determined smoke deposition in relationship to airflow (L/min), regional smoke deposition within the linear exposure module, vapour phase dilution using a known smoke marker (carbon monoxide) and finally assessed biological responses using two independent biological systems, the Ames and Neutral Red uptake (NRU) assay.