Secondary indoor air pollution and passive smoking associated with cannabis smoking using electric cigarette device-demonstrative in silico study

PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 May 13;17(5):e1009004. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009004. eCollection 2021 May.

Abstract

With electronic (e)-liquids containing cannabis components easily available, many anecdotal examples of cannabis vaping using electronic cigarette devices have been reported. For electronic cigarette cannabis vaping, there are potential risks of secondary indoor air pollution from vapers. However, quantitative and accurate prediction of the inhalation and dermal exposure of a passive smoker in the same room is difficult to achieve due to the ethical constraints on subject experiments. The numerical method, i.e., in silico method, is a powerful tool to complement these experiments with real humans. In this study, we adopted a computer-simulated person that has been validated from multiple perspectives for prediction accuracy. We then conducted an in silico study to elucidate secondary indoor air pollution and passive smoking associated with cannabis vaping using an electronic cigarette device in an indoor environment. The aerosols exhaled by a cannabis vaper were confirmed to be a secondary emission source in an indoor environment; non-smokers were exposed to these aerosols via respiratory and dermal pathways. Tetrahydrocannabinol was used as a model chemical compound for the exposure study. Its uptake by the non-smoker through inhalation and dermal exposure under a worst-case scenario was estimated to be 5.9% and 2.6% of the exhaled quantity from an e-cigarette cannabis user, respectively.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollution, Indoor*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems*
  • Humans
  • Inhalation Exposure
  • Marijuana Smoking*
  • Risk Assessment
  • Tobacco Smoke Pollution*

Substances

  • Tobacco Smoke Pollution

Grants and funding

This work was funded by JSPS KAKENHI, award No. JP18H03807 to KI https://www.jsps.go.jp/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.