Comparison of the effects of e-cigarette vapor and cigarette smoke on indoor air quality

5^th International Conference on Environmental Toxicology and Ecological Risk Assessment

September 12-13, 2016 Phoenix, USA

Timothy R McAuley

Consulting for Health, Air, Nature, & a Greener Environment, LLC, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Environ Anal Toxicol

Abstract :

Context: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have earned considerable attention recently as an alternative to smoking tobacco, but uncertainties about their impact on health and indoor air quality have resulted in proposals for bans on indoor e-cigarette use. Methods & Materials: Four different high nicotine e-liquids were vaporized in two sets of experiments by generic 2-piece e-cigarettes to collect emissions and assess indoor air concentrations of common tobacco smoke byproducts. Tobacco cigarette smoke tests were conducted for comparison. Results: Comparisons of pollutant concentrations were made between e-cigarette vapor and tobacco smoke samples. Pollutants included VOCs, carbonyls, PAHs, nicotine, TSNAs, and glycols. From these results, risk analyses were conducted based on dilution into a 40 m3 room and standard toxicological data. Non-cancer risk analysis revealed â�?�?No significant riskâ�? of harm to human health for vapor samples from e-liquids (AD). In contrast, for tobacco smoke most findings markedly exceeded risk limits indicating a condition of â�?�?Significant Riskâ�? of harm to human health. With regard to cancer risk analysis, no vapor sample from e-liquids A-D exceeded the risk limit for either children or adults. The tobacco smoke sample approached the risk limits for adult exposure. Conclusion: For all byproducts measured, electronic cigarettes produce very small exposures relative to tobacco cigarettes. The study indicates no apparent risk to human health from e-cigarette emissions based on the compounds analyzed.

Biography :

Email: mcauleyt@airqualitychange.com