An electronic cigarette (e-cig) generates aerosols by vaporizing the e-liquid, which mainly consists of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), and nicotine. Understanding the effects of e-liquid main compositions on e-cig aerosols is important for exposure assessment. This study investigated how the PG/VG ratio and nicotine content affect e-cig aerosol emissions and dynamics. A tank-based e-cig device with 10 different flavorless e-liquid mixtures (e.g., PG/VG ratios of 0/100, 10/90, 30/70, 50/50, and 100/0 with 0.0% or 2.4% nicotine) was used to puff aerosols into a 0.46 m3 stainless steel chamber for 0.5 h. Real-time measurements of particle number concentration (PNC), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and particle size distributions were conducted continuously throughout the puffing and the following 2-h decay period. During the decay period, particle loss rates were determined by a first-order log-linear regression and used to calculate the emission factor. The addition of nicotine in the e-liquid significantly decreased the particle number emission factor by 33%. The PM2.5 emission factor significantly decreased with greater PG content in the e-liquid. For nicotine-free e-liquids, increasing the PG/VG ratio resulted in increased particle loss rates measured by PNC and PM2.5. This pattern was not observed with nicotine in the e-liquids. The particle loss rates, however, were significantly different with and without nicotine especially when the PG/VG ratios were greater than 30/70. Compared with nonvolatile diethyl-hexyl subacute (DEHS) aerosols, e-cig particle concentration decayed faster inside the chamber, presumably due to evaporation. These results have potential implications for assessing human exposure to e-cig aerosols.1. Introduction, The PG/VG ratio that determines the saturation vapor pressure of the e-liquid mixtures likely governs the volatility of e-cig aerosols. For example, the PG-based mixture makes e-cig aerosols more volatile (i.e., P sat = ~ 20 Pa), whereas the VG-based mixture makes them much less volatile (i.e., P sat = 0.01 Pa)., Users of e-cigarettes often report that PG produces better “throat hit” and carries flavor better than glycerol while glycerol is much smoother than PG. PG is physically much thinner than glycerol (Cheng, 2014; Etter, 2016; Li et al., 2016). Outside of usage in e-cigarette liquids, dermal exposure to PG and glycerol is more common than .