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

TLDR

Electronic cigarettes are promoted as a tobacco alternative, yet uncertainties about their health and indoor air quality effects have prompted calls for indoor use bans. The study aimed to evaluate the potential health impacts of e‑cigarette use by comparing indoor air emissions to those of conventional cigarettes. Researchers vaporized four high‑nicotine e‑liquids in generic 2‑piece e‑cigarettes and measured VOCs, carbonyls, PAHs, nicotine, TSNAs, and glycols, then compared these concentrations to those from tobacco smoke and performed risk analyses based on dilution into a 40 m³ room. Risk analyses revealed no significant non‑cancer or cancer risk from e‑cigarette vapor, whereas tobacco smoke exceeded risk limits, indicating that e‑cigarettes produce markedly lower exposures and pose no apparent health risk relative to conventional cigarettes.

Abstract

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.To assess potential health impacts relating to the use of e-cigarettes, a series of studies were conducted using e-cigarettes and standard tobacco cigarettes.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 by products. Tobacco cigarette smoke tests were conducted for comparison. 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 "No Significant Risk" of harm to human health for vapor samples from e-liquids (A-D). In contrast, for tobacco smoke most findings markedly exceeded risk limits indicating a condition of "Significant Risk" 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.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.