Emissions from Electronic Cigarettes: Assessing Vapers’ Intake of Toxic Compounds, Secondhand Exposures, and the Associated Health Impacts

LOGUE, JENNIFER M.; SLEIMAN, MOHAMAD; MONTESINOS, V. NAHUEL; RUSSELL, MARION L.; LITTER, MARTA I.; BENOWITZ, NEAL L.; GUNDEL, LARA A.; DESTAILLATS, HUGO

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2017 vol. 51 p. 9271 - 9279

0013-936X

E-cigarettes likely represent a lower risk to health than traditionalcombustion cigarettes, but they are not innocuous. Recently reported emission rates ofpotentially harmful compounds were used to assess intake and predict health impacts forvapers and bystanders exposed passively. Vapers? toxicant intake was calculated forscenarios in which different e-liquids were used with various vaporizers, battery powersettings and vaping regimes. For a high rate of 250 puff day−1 using a typical vapingregime and popular tank devices with battery voltages from 3.8 to 4.8 V, users werepredicted to inhale formaldehyde (up to 49 mg day−1), acrolein (up to 10 mg day−1)and diacetyl (up to 0.5 mg day−1), at levels that exceeded U.S. occupational limits.Formaldehyde intake from 100 daily puffs was higher than the amount inhaled by asmoker consuming 10 conventional cigarettes per day. Secondhand exposures werepredicted for two typical indoor scenarios: a home and a bar. Contributions from vapingto air pollutant concentrations in the home did not exceed the California OEHHA 8-hreference exposure levels (RELs), except when a high emitting device was used at 4.8 V.In that extreme scenario, the contributions from vaping amounted to as much as 12 μg m −3 formaldehyde and 2.6 μg m −3acrolein. Pollutant concentrations in bars were modeled using indoor volumes, air exchange rates and the number of hourly usersreported in the literature for U.S. bars in which smoking was allowed. Predicted contributions to indoor air levels were higherthan those in the residential scenario. Formaldehyde (on average 135 μg m −3) and acrolein (28 μg m −3) exceeded the acute 1-hexposure REL for the highest emitting vaporizer/voltage combination. Predictions for these compounds also exceeded the 8-hREL in several bars when less intense vaping conditions were considered. Benzene concentrations in a few bars approached the8-h REL, and diacetyl levels were close to the lower limit for occupational exposures. The integrated health damage from passivevaping was derived by computing disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to exposure to secondhand vapor. Acrolein wasthe dominant contributor to the aggregate harm. DALYs for the various device/voltage combinations were lower than orcomparable to those estimated for exposures to secondhand and thirdhand tobacco smoke.