Human transport of thirdhand tobacco smoke: A prominent source of hazardous air pollutants into indoor nonsmoking environments.
Roger SheuChristof StönnerJenna C DittoThomas KlüpfelJonathan WilliamsDrew R GentnerPublished in: Science advances (2020)
The contamination of indoor nonsmoking environments with thirdhand smoke (THS) is an important, poorly understood public health concern. Real-time THS off-gassing from smokers into a nonsmoking movie theater was observed with online and offline high-resolution mass spectrometry. Prominent emission events of THS tracers (e.g., 2,5-dimethylfuran, 2-methylfuran, and acetonitrile) and other tobacco-related volatile organic compounds (VOCs) coincided with the arrival of certain moviegoers and left residual contamination. These VOC emission events exposed occupants to the equivalent of 1 to 10 cigarettes of secondhand smoke, including multiple hazardous air pollutants (e.g., benzene and formaldehyde) at parts-per-billion concentrations. Nicotine and related intermediate-volatility nitrogen-containing compounds, which vaporized from clothes/bodies and recondensed onto aerosol, comprised 34% of observed functionalized organic aerosol abundance. Exposure to THS VOC emission events will be considerably enhanced in poorly ventilated or smaller spaces in contrast with a large, well-ventilated theater-amplifying concentrations and potential impacts on health and indoor chemistry.
Keyphrases
- health risk
- public health
- smoking cessation
- air pollution
- high resolution mass spectrometry
- heavy metals
- particulate matter
- human health
- intensive care unit
- risk assessment
- drinking water
- acute respiratory distress syndrome
- endothelial cells
- liquid chromatography
- healthcare
- health information
- water soluble
- mental health
- social media
- room temperature
- solid state
- magnetic resonance imaging
- quantum dots
- mass spectrometry
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- global health
- gas chromatography
- ultra high performance liquid chromatography
- drug induced
- health promotion
- ionic liquid
- molecularly imprinted