Secondhand Electronic Cigarette Aerosol in Vehicles Impacts Indoor Air Quality
Eric Soule, SINAN SOUSAN, Jack Pender, Luke Thomas, Emily Gold, Sarah Fresquez, Ronald Mooring, Vivien Coombs, Anish Gogineni, Alex Tiet,
Department of Public Health, East Carolina University Abstract Number: 147
Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
AbstractIndoor electronic cigarette (ECIG) use has increased in recent years. ECIG use in vehicles represents public health concern due to the potential for particulate matter (PM) concentrations to increase rapidly from use in a small space. This study examined the impact of ECIG use on air quality in vehicles. Current ECIG users (n=60; mean age=20.5, SD=2.3) completed a brief survey and a 30-minute ECIG use session in their own vehicle. Using their own ECIG device, participants first completed a 5 minute 10-puff directed bout (30-second interpuff interval) followed by a 25-minute ad libitum bout in which participants could take as many puffs as desired, with total puff counts recorded. PM 2.5 µm in diameter or smaller (PM
2.5) were measured using aerosol monitors set up to sample air from the breathing zone of the passenger seat. The association between peak filter corrected PM
2.5 concentrations and puff count were examined. During the session, participants took a median 18 total puffs (i.e., 10 during the directed bout and 8 during the ad libitum bout). Median filter corrected PM
2.5 concentrations increased from 4.78 µg/m
3 at baseline to 107.40 µg/m
3 after the directed bout. Median peak filter corrected PM
2.5 concentration was 464.48 µg/m
3 and ranged from 9.56 µg/m
3 to 143,503.91 µg/m
3 (IQR=132.72-1,604.68). After removing two extreme outliers for puff count and PM
2.5 concentrations, puff count was significantly correlated with peak filter corrected PM
2.5 concentration during the ad libitum bout (r=0.32, p=0.015).