10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
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The Impact of Tobacco Heating System on the IAQ in a Night Club Environment
DAINIUS MARTUZEVICIUS, Marija MeiĊĦutovič-Akhtarieva, Tadas Prasauskas, Darius Ciuzas, Karolina Keraitytė, Violeta Kaunelienė, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Abstract Number: 1463 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract INTRODUCTION. The adverse effects of traditional cigarette usage to not only the smoker but also to indoor environment have been long established. During recent years, new nicotine containing products increasingly penetrate the market. Such devices are not based on the pyrolysis of tobacco, but on the heating of propylene glycol based liquid containing pure nicotine (such as in electronic cigarettes), or distilling nicotine from specially prepared tobacco in reduced temperatures (such as in tobacco heating systems). These techniques have potentially lower release of secondary pollutants, but the data on their potential impact to IAQ is very rare. This study was aimed to the assessment of the usage of the tobacco heating system to the real-life night club environment.
METHODS. The experimental setup was established in a nightclub, operating at premises of a flow area of approx. 198 m2, and a volume of approx. 800 m2. Background aerosol concentration has been measured without any occupancy, followed by the occupancy of 10 and 30 persons. Further tests included 10 and 30 persons using tobacco heating systems (IQOS, Philip Morris Ltd.) simultaneously at a confined space of the club without additional occupancy or activities. The other set of tests were conducted during the full operation of the night club again 10 and 30 persons using the THS. Such design was selected in order to identify if the usage of THS has a significant impact on air quality if used indoors in a rather intense otherwise public environment. The smoking of traditional and electronic cigarettes was prohibited in the nightclub, but some polluted air was leaking into the club from the smoking room located adjacent to the main hall.
ELPI+ (Electrical Low Pressure Impactor, Dekati Ltd., Finland) has been operated at a single location of the night club, drawing samples at a flowrate of 10 lpm at a 1s resolution. Two Tygon sampling tubes have been connected to ELPI+ via a two way switching valve, operating at a 300 s interval. Such designed allowed sampling interchangeably from two locations at a club – one at an area of the usage of THS, another at the opposite side of the club.
RESULTS. During the controlled experiment and without operating ventilation, the background aerosol concentration stayed at a level of 4E+3 - 8E+3 cm-3. The usage of 10 devices simultaneously resulted in 3E+4 - 8E+4, and the 30 instruments resulted in further increase to 1E+5 - 3E+5 cm-3. These increases were reduced back to the background levels after a 30 min of continuous ventilation. The full scale operation of the club has resulted in background values of 5E+4 to 8E+5 cm-3. Such levels are attributed to the mixture of aerosol from kitchen and fugitive emissions from smoking room. No significant effect of the usage of THS devices has been registered in such scenario. This suggests that tobacco heating systems did not produce significant amount of aerosol to influence already high values in the club, but the effects to the bystanders may be still sensible, as confirmed by the increase of concentrations during usage of THS devices with no other activities present.
Acknowledgement. This research was funded by an Investigator-Initiated Study award by Philip Morris Products SA (IIS.PMI.2017.16). The study protocol was written by the investigator, who also conducted the study. Philip Morris Products SA had no involvement in the study conduct, data analysis and writing of the manuscript.