Cinnamaldehyde
Cinnamon sounds healthy — as aerosol, it paralyses lung immune defence.
⚠ Sounds harmless — it isn't
Zimt klingt gesund — als Vape-Aerosol stört Zimtaldehyd nachweislich die Funktion der Atemwegs-Flimmerhärchen und der Lungen-Immunzellen, schon in den Konzentrationen handelsüblicher Liquids.
At a glance
- Also known as
- Zimtaldehyd · (E)-Zimtaldehyd
- CAS number
- 14371-10-9
- Toxicity
Medium
- Carcinogenic
- Not classified for cancer
- In cigarette smoke
- In vape aerosol
- in Zimt-Aromen häufig hochkonzentriert; Hauptkomponente vieler „Cinnamon Roll“-Liquids
What is Cinnamaldehyde?
Cinnamaldehyde is the main flavour compound of cinnamon bark, responsible for the characteristic cinnamon taste. In food and cosmetics it's well-researched and considered safe at the customary amounts. In vape aerosols, cinnamaldehyde occurs at concentrations that lung researchers in the 2010s first identified as problematic.
Why is Cinnamaldehyde in cigarettes?
Cinnamaldehyde is the central flavour component in „Cinnamon Roll“, „Cinnabon“ and many bakery flavours — and is often used in highly concentrated form in e-liquids to push the flavour through the aerosolised carrier (PG/VG). Studies (Behar et al., 2018) detected cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon-flavoured liquids at concentrations that measurably impaired human lung cell function in tests.
What Cinnamaldehyde does to your body — short term
Acutely, cinnamaldehyde aerosol irritates the upper airways and can trigger skin sensitivity — cinnamon allergies aren't rare and are usually mediated by cinnamaldehyde. Even single vape sessions with cinnamon-flavoured liquids showed measurable impairment of cilia movement in the bronchi.
What Cinnamaldehyde does long term
The central concern with chronic cinnamaldehyde inhalation is impairment of lung immune function. Behar et al. (2018) showed that cinnamon-flavoured vape aerosols measurably reduce the phagocytosis function of alveolar macrophages — disabling exactly the cells that should normally clear pollutants and pathogens from the alveoli. Over years, this leads to elevated infection susceptibility and potentially chronic airway problems.
Where else do you know Cinnamaldehyde from?
You know cinnamaldehyde as the cinnamon flavour in food, bakery products and perfumery. Naturally it occurs in cinnamon bark, cassia and some essential oils. In skin-contact products, cinnamaldehyde is regulated because it's one of the most common contact allergens.
How it compares
There's no DFG MAK and no ACGIH recommendation for cinnamaldehyde in workplace air — the substance was historically not classified as an inhalation risk. Vape aerosol inhalation is a novel exposure route whose risk has been systematically studied only since the 2010s; current studies suggest relevant effects already at customary liquid concentrations.
Workplace exposure limit: kein DFG-MAK; ACGIH-Empfehlung nicht festgelegt
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