Electronic Cigarettes: Exposure to Secondhand Vapors at a Long-Term Healthcare Company

Details

• Journal Article:
  Journal of Nursing Education and Practice
• Personal Author:
  Harris, Nicole ; Gillespie, Gordon L. ; Davis, Kermit G.
• Description:
  Introduction: Healthcare workers in long term care settings have limited control over their occupational secondhand exposure to electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products. Methods: The study aimed to identify the perceived frequency of exposure to exhaled electronic cigarette vapor on healthcare workers within two sites of a long-term healthcare company. An online survey was completed by 149 (out of approximately 500) employees that asked about electronic cigarette personal usage, concerns for exposure, exposure times, and demographic data. Results: Twelve percent of all survey respondents expressed concerns related to second-hand exposure. Of those exposed, employee estimated exposure time was 2.1 minutes per shift for electronic cigarettes compared to 12.1 minutes per shift for cigarettes/cigars/pipes. Conclusions: Overall self-reported secondhand exposure to electronic cigarettes and cigarettes/cigars/pipes was low. To determine a definitive exposure level, quantitative sampling can be done related to chemical exposure via passive inhalation of the smoke and vapor cloud for cigarettes and electronic cigarettes, respectively. Education can be provided to healthcare workers and residents in long-term care facilities regarding risk of exposure to secondhand smoke to alleviate employees' concerns with exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Smoke Smokers Tobacco Products Vaping
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Occupational; Vape; Secondhand; Healthcare Worker Nurses; Nursing; Health Care Workers; Occupational Exposure; Secondhand Smoke; Electronic Devices; Tobacco Smoke; Cigarette Smoking;
• Source:
  J Nurs Educ Pract 2021 Feb; 11(2):1-6
• ISSN:
  1925-4040
• Pubmed ID:
  35371369
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8970531
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  T42 OH008432/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; T42OH008432/ACL/ACL HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  11 pdf pages
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20064935
• Contact Point Address:
  Gordon Lee Gillespie, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210038, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0038, United States
• Email:
  gordon.gillespie@uc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:304f39b926c0969f17f411f89a6790df412f63693ee95af7fc6d128275807d08acd796b36ffa363d4fc753a9ace9cad068456deaf0912295c7a1074c806bd867
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/116005/cdc_116005_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 72.05 KB ]