Exposure to Aerosolized Chemicals, Metals and Particulate Matter from E-Cigarettes included in Rare Surgeon General Advisory

Puerto Rico and at least nine states have passed comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws that include e-cigarettes. These laws prohibit smoking and the use of e-cigarettes in indoor areas of private worksites, restaurants and bars. Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and many states have also passed legislation prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
 
This is an important step in addressing the use of these devices by high school students on the islands in what the U.S. Surgeon General recently described as a public health epidemic across the entire country. Just this past December, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams issued only his second Advisory of his tenure. Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth warns of the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use as well as aerosols that both users and bystanders could be exposed to due to vaping. According to the Advisory, in 2018, use increased by 78% with high school students which equates to 1 in 5 students using e-cigarettes.
 
“All the way back in 2013, Puerto Rico’s attorney general joined dozens of other attorney generals in a letter sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urging the regulation of electronic cigarettes,” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental.  “This is important as the Surgeon General has published information about vaping that states aerosols from e-cigarettes is not harmless. It can contain harmful and potentially harmful chemicals, including addictive nicotine; ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs; flavoring such diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease; volatile organic compounds such as benzene, which is also found in car exhaust; and heavy metals, including nickel, tin and lead.”
 
Providing air testing and consulting services to identify exposure risks due to aerosols from e-cigarettes, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), particulate matter (PM), and a wide range of other chemical and microbial pollutants in Puerto Rico and across the Caribbean are the professionals from Zimmetry Environmental. The indoor environmental quality experts from Zimmetry have also recently sponsored an educational video about e-cigarettes, aerosol exposures and the Surgeon General’s Advisory that can be seen at: https://youtu.be/6XmpNnNhCVQ
 
To learn more about this or other air quality, environmental, building science, and compliance testing and consulting services, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .
 
About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies.  The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America.  The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality, asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.
 

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Paul Cochrane

President

Cochrane & Associates, LLC

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