E-Cigarette Aerosol Exposure: Select BioMarkers in Vape Shop Workers

Presented by: Charlene Nguyen, MS, PhD
Webinar Details: www.coeh.berke...
About the Webinar:
Vape shops are currently exempt from smoke-free workplace regulations in California, putting vape shop workers at risk of repeated occupational exposure to e-cigarette (e-cig) aerosols. During this webinar, learners will explore select biomarkers including cotinine, a marker for nicotine as a tracer for e-cig aerosol, and markers of oxidative stress (8-OHdG, 8-isoprostane (8-iso)), system inflammation (human C-reactive protein (CRP)), metal toxicity and antioxidant activity (metallothionein (MT)) quantified in urine samples from thirty vape shop workers. Urine samples were collected from thirty vape shop workers, fifteen vaping and fifteen non-vaping, at the start and end of a shift on two days, which were either the first and last days of a consecutive workday period or two separate days if a subject had a nonconsecutive workday schedule.
Although cotinine increase was only observed in one of the shifts, cotinine significantly increased between the first and last days for non-vaping workers with a consecutive workday schedule. A corresponding upward trend in 8-iso between the first and last days was also observed. Significant association between cotinine and 8-iso varied by vape shop, and was observed in the non-vaping group, suggesting that worksite characteristics, which could include vaping activity during the shift, may increase oxidative stress. Decreases in 8-OHdG, CRP, and MT were observed within both non-vaping worker shifts studied, but changes in these markers among vaping workers were consistent with elevated oxidative stress and inflammatory responses expected from e-cig use during shifts. Significant high associations observed among cotinine and 8-OHdG, CRP, and MT for vaping workers indicate that mainstream e-cig aerosol is more likely to increase oxidative stress, inflammation, and metal toxicity/reactive oxygen species response than exhaled e-cig aerosol. This study provides preliminary data to support future studies to systematically assess and quantify the relative contribution of exhaled e-cig aerosol exposure to health impacts among vape shop workers.
Learning Objectives:
At the completion of this activity, the learner will be able to:
Characterize changes in select urinary biomarker concentrations measured in vape shop workers within shift and across multiple consecutive work shifts
Identify potential predictors of exposure and effect from exhaled e-cig aersol exposure in vape shops
Compare biomarker level changes in vape shop workers with tobacco smokers for widely studied nicotine exposure, oxidative stress, and systemic inflammation markers