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. 2019 Feb 15:16:A11.
doi: 10.18332/tid/99117. eCollection 2018.

Secondhand exposure to e-cigarette aerosols among smokers: A cross-sectional study in six European countries of the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys

Olena Tigova  1   2 , Beladenta Amalia  1   2   3 , Yolanda Castellano  1   2 , Marcela Fu  1   2   3 , Sarah O Nogueira  1   2   3 , Christina N Kyriakos  4   5 , Ute Mons  6 , Antigona C Trofor  7   8 , Witold A Zatoński  9   10 , Krzysztof Przewoźniak  9   11 , Tibor Demjén  11 , Yannis Tountas  12 , Anne C K Quah  13   14 , Geoffrey T Fong  13   14 , Esteve Fernández  1   2   3 , Constantine I Vardavas  4   5 ; EUREST-PLUS consortium
Affiliations

Secondhand exposure to e-cigarette aerosols among smokers: A cross-sectional study in six European countries of the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys

Olena Tigova et al. Tob Induc Dis. .

Abstract

Introduction: Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use has grown significantly in some European Union (EU) Member States (MS). A better understanding of the exposure to secondhand e-cigarette aerosols (SHA) is necessary to develop and implement comprehensive regulations on e-cigarette use in public places. This study aims to assess the observation of e-cigarette use in public places, the self-reported exposure to SHA, and the level of users' comfort using e-cigarettes in the presence of others.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of the Wave 1 International Tobacco Control 6 European Countries Survey recruiting adult smokers (n=6011) across six EU MS: Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Spain, within the EURESTPLUS Project. A descriptive analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence (%) of observed e-cigarette use in different places, frequency of self-reported exposure to SHA, and level of comfort using e-cigarettes in the presence of others.

Results: In all, 31.0% of smokers observed others using e-cigarette in public places, 19.7% in indoor places where smoking is banned, and 14.5% indoors at work. Almost 37% of smokers reported to be ever exposed to SHA, ranging from 17.7% in Spain to 63.3% in Greece. The higher prevalence of observed e-cigarette use and passive exposure to SHA was reported by smokers of younger age, of higher educational level and those being current or former e-cigarette users. Part (8.8%) of the smokers who were also e-cigarette users reported feeling uncomfortable using e-cigarettes in the presence of others.

Conclusions: A third of smokers from six EU MS reported being exposed to SHA. Prevalence differences were observed among the countries. In the context of scarce evidence on long-term health effects of exposure to SHA, precautionary regulations protecting bystanders from involuntary exposure should be developed.

Keywords: Europe; e-cigarette; passive exposure; secondhand aerosol; secondhand exposure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current work. K. Przewoźniak reports grants and personal fees from the Polish League Against Cancer, outside the submitted work. C. I. Vardavas reports that he is the Strategic Development Editor of TID and that there are no conflicts of interest with this current work. The rest of the authors have also completed and submitted an ICMJE form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest.

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