The Co-occurrence of Specialty Vape Shops, Social Disadvantage, and Poor Air Quality in the United States: An Assessment of Cumulative Risks to Youth.

Introduction: We conducted a cumulative environmental health risk assessment of whether specialty vape shops and poor air quality are more likely to co-occur in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods where racial/ethnic minority youth live. Methods: We examined the population-adjusted incidence of specialty vape shops in relation to youth race/ethnicity, neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), and air quality (nitrogen dioxide [NO2]) at the census tract level across the conterminous United States for 2018. Results: We did not find disparity in vape shop incidence related to minority youth race/ethnicity. Vape shop incidence was significantly negatively associated with all the youth race/ethnicities examined. The two lowest SES quintiles had nearly double the rate of specialty vape shop incidence compared with the highest SES quintile. Specialty vape shop incidence increased with NO2 concentration, with more vape shops in poor air quality neighborhoods. Conclusions: Specialty vape shops are disproportionately present in neighborhoods with poor air quality and where socially disadvantaged youth live. The increased incidence of vape shops in poor air quality neighborhoods, particularly in an urban context with increased traffic emissions, further points to potentially disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged populations due to cumulative social and environmental risks. This raises environmental justice and health equity concerns. Retailer-focused strategies aimed at limiting youth exposure to electronic cigarettes' labeling and advertising, preventing sales to minors, and limiting the number of retailers in low-SES neighborhoods may reduce initiation and help prevent tobacco-related health disparities among youth.

No Butts on the Beach: Aquatic Toxicity of Cigarette Butt Leachate Chemicals.

OBJECTIVES: Toxic pollutants leaching from littered cigarette butts (CB) raise environmental impact concerns. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is required to assess the environmental impacts of its tobacco regulatory actions per the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). METHODS: We determined the chemical constituents in CB leachate through analyses of 109 field-collected CB and literature compilation and characterized their ecotoxicity to aquatic organisms. RESULTS: One-third of the 98 identified CB leachate chemicals were very toxic and 10% were toxic to aquatic organisms due to acute and chronic toxicity. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, metals, phthalates, nicotine and volatile organic compounds were the most hazardous CB leachate chemicals for aquatic organisms. Of the 98 CB leachate chemicals, 25 are included in FDA's list of harmful or potentially harmful constituents in tobacco products and tobacco smoke. CONCLUSIONS: Our study quantifies CB leachate constituents, characterizes their ecological hazard and identifies chemicals of concern. Thus, it aids in evaluating the environmental impacts of tobacco products per NEPA requirements. These results provide important information for strategies to prevent and reduce CB litter (eg, awareness programs, litter laws enforcement), thereby reducing environmental hazards from CB toxicants.