Most people wouldn’t mind electronic cigarette use near them, although approval of use in stores, restaurants, and other spaces covered by smoke-free laws came in lower, a national survey showed.
Fully 63% of American adults said they would not be bothered by someone “vaping” in close proximity in the survey conducted by mar
ket research firm Harris Interactive for e-cigarette maker Mistic.
Men were significantly more tolerant of e-cigarette use, with 71% stating they would not be bothered by the use of an e-cig in their vicinity, compared to 55% of women.
Also age was a factor: 70% of individuals ages 18-34 would not be bothered by someone nearby using an e-cigarette, compared with 46% of those aged 65 and over.
Approval ratings among respondents who stated an opinion were highest for use at sporting events (58%) and fell from there to:
- 47% for malls
- 45% for restaurants and bars
- 35% for offices
- 29% for movie theaters
- 26% for airplanes
“Because the e-cigarette is a relatively new consumer product, there are a lot of questions about government regulation and whether these devices should be allowed in certain places,” Mistic CEO John Wiesehan Jr., said in a release. “This survey serves as an important first step in setting the benchmark for public opinion.”
Only a dozen states limit or ban e-cigarette use in public spaces, while less than one in five cities and towns with the stiffest smoke-free laws do so, according to the databases of theAmericans for Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
A few more are expected to join that list, like Chicago and New York City, but these are early days without any federal regulation.
It’s deja vu back to the ’80s before public opinion started to shift against smoke exposure, noted Cynthia Hallett, MPH, executive director of that Berkley, Calif., nonprofit.
It took a Surgeon General’s report highlighting the health risks of second-hand smoke to nonsmokers to generate wide support for smoke-free laws, she explained.
“We’re back in that stage where [e-cigarettes] are still relatively new, the science is still being developed,” she told MedPage Today. “I think that this survey right no
w reflects the fact that the public health community isn’t out there with information about what’s in the secondhand vapor.”
One recent study showed lower but not negligible levels of nicotine exhaled into the room by e-cigarette users compared with conventional smoking, although not a significant source of other toxins usually found in secondhand tobacco smoke.
Another study released last week by the same group showed third-hand exposure from e-cigarettes too.
Nicotine concentrations left on the floor after vaping averaged 24 ng/cm2 and about 4 to 5 ng/cm2 on glass and metal surfaces, Maciej L. Goniewicz, PharmD, PhD, of Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., and colleagues reported.
Nicotine deposits are “incredibly difficult to remove” and actually increase in potential harm over time as they react with oxidants to form carcinogens, the group pointed out in their poster presentation at the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco meeting in Seattle.
“From where I sit, the more science that comes out, the more damning it is that there are toxicants, fine particulates, and volatile organic compounds in that e-cigarette vapor are dangerous,” Hallett commented. “E-cigarettes may be less polluting than say a combustible tobacco cigarette, but there are still pollutants in that e-cigarette and in that vapor that could be harmful.”
She cautioned that an unknown proportion of survey respondents were likely smokers, given that about 20% of American adults use tobacco.
The survey consisted of telephone responses from 1,011 Americans ages 18 and over, weighted for age, sex, geographic region, and race to reflect the national population.
Only 2% of respondents said they didn’t know what an e-cigarette was.
The survey was sponsored by e-cigarette maker Mistic.
The study was supported by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the National Cancer Institute.
A study co-author reported research support from Pfizer, maker of smoking cessation medications.
E-Cigarettes: Nation Shrugs at 'Vaping' in Public
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