{"title":"Assessment of vape shop built environment: airborne nicotine, particulate matter, ventilation, hazard identification, workplace practices, and safety perceptions.","authors":"Toluwanimi M Oni, Balaji Sadhasivam, Evan L Floyd","doi":"10.1093/annweh/wxaf018","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vape shops are established to sell electronic cigarette (EC) devices, e-liquids or e-juices, and other related accessories. EC use is prominent in vape shops and indoor EC use has been associated with elevated levels of nicotine and particulate matter (PM). This study assessed health and safety conditions, practices, building characteristics, nicotine, and PM concentrations in vape shops during business hours. Sixty-four vape shops were visited but only 15 vape shops consented to participate in this study. The majority of the vape shops had general ventilation (100%) and lounge areas (60%). No workers were observed not to use any personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, aprons, face masks, etc. The mean and standard deviation of the shop volume, air flowrate, and air exchange rate were 12.361 ± 12.990 ft3, 1.203 ± 1.584 ft3/min, and 5.8 ± 2.8 h-1, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the time-averaged concentration of nicotine, PM2.5, respirable PM, and total PM were 3.92 ± 3.73, 32.01 ± 25.85, 36.03 ± 30.91, and 43.67 ± 34.78 ug/m3, respectively. The nicotine, PM2.5, respirable PM, and total PM levels were significantly below their respective occupational or ambient guideline limits (P < 0.05). The vape shop environments in this study did not appear to pose a significant risk of second-hand exposure to elevated levels of airborne nicotine and PM during business hours.</p>","PeriodicalId":8362,"journal":{"name":"Annals Of Work Exposures and Health","volume":" ","pages":"510-519"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12208366/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals Of Work Exposures and Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/annweh/wxaf018","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Vape shops are established to sell electronic cigarette (EC) devices, e-liquids or e-juices, and other related accessories. EC use is prominent in vape shops and indoor EC use has been associated with elevated levels of nicotine and particulate matter (PM). This study assessed health and safety conditions, practices, building characteristics, nicotine, and PM concentrations in vape shops during business hours. Sixty-four vape shops were visited but only 15 vape shops consented to participate in this study. The majority of the vape shops had general ventilation (100%) and lounge areas (60%). No workers were observed not to use any personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, aprons, face masks, etc. The mean and standard deviation of the shop volume, air flowrate, and air exchange rate were 12.361 ± 12.990 ft3, 1.203 ± 1.584 ft3/min, and 5.8 ± 2.8 h-1, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the time-averaged concentration of nicotine, PM2.5, respirable PM, and total PM were 3.92 ± 3.73, 32.01 ± 25.85, 36.03 ± 30.91, and 43.67 ± 34.78 ug/m3, respectively. The nicotine, PM2.5, respirable PM, and total PM levels were significantly below their respective occupational or ambient guideline limits (P < 0.05). The vape shop environments in this study did not appear to pose a significant risk of second-hand exposure to elevated levels of airborne nicotine and PM during business hours.
期刊介绍:
About the Journal
Annals of Work Exposures and Health is dedicated to presenting advances in exposure science supporting the recognition, quantification, and control of exposures at work, and epidemiological studies on their effects on human health and well-being. A key question we apply to submission is, "Is this paper going to help readers better understand, quantify, and control conditions at work that adversely or positively affect health and well-being?"
We are interested in high quality scientific research addressing:
the quantification of work exposures, including chemical, biological, physical, biomechanical, and psychosocial, and the elements of work organization giving rise to such exposures;
the relationship between these exposures and the acute and chronic health consequences for those exposed and their families and communities;
populations at special risk of work-related exposures including women, under-represented minorities, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups such as temporary, contingent and informal sector workers;
the effectiveness of interventions addressing exposure and risk including production technologies, work process engineering, and personal protective systems;
policies and management approaches to reduce risk and improve health and well-being among workers, their families or communities;
methodologies and mechanisms that underlie the quantification and/or control of exposure and risk.
There is heavy pressure on space in the journal, and the above interests mean that we do not usually publish papers that simply report local conditions without generalizable results. We are also unlikely to publish reports on human health and well-being without information on the work exposure characteristics giving rise to the effects. We particularly welcome contributions from scientists based in, or addressing conditions in, developing economies that fall within the above scope.