# Air Quality, Child, and Adult Health in Homes Where E-Cigarettes Are Smoked

> **NIH NIH R01** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $470,952

## Abstract

Abstract
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs), were introduced to the US market only 10 years ago, and are markedly different
from traditional cigarettes. Traditional cigarettes contain tobacco and are smoked through combustion, thereby
exposing the smoker and those nearby (secondhand smoke; SHS) to thousands of potentially dangerous
tobacco and combustion-related agents. In contrast, E-cigs are “vaped” rather than smoked, and the resultant
aerosols produced contain a far smaller number of potentially toxic chemicals, such as nicotine and flavorings,
as well as byproducts caused by the heating of propylene glycol, and glycerin. Thus, they are widely believed
and marketed as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking, yet the actual dangers posed by the use of these e-
cigarettes remains largely unexplored. Many see the widespread adoption of this alternative nicotine delivery
system as holding great promise in helping people quit or reduce cigarette use, and thus are seen as having
profoundly positive effects as harm reduction agents. Others fear that their use may lead adolescents (the
group most likely to begin using cigarettes) to transition from their use to the use of cigarettes. To date, missing
from this debate is the potential biologic harm of mainstream and secondhand e-cig aerosols in homes where
these agents are used, and how such exposure compares to mainstream and SHS from cigarettes. Our overall
hypothesis is that e-cig vaping in homes leads to exposure to aerosols containing a number of pollutants and
that this exposure is associated with decrements in cardiopulmonary function and increases in biomarkers for
risk of future pulmonary and cardiovascular disease both in the e-cig vaper and non-smoking/non-vaping
children and adults in such homes. Findings from this study will have very significant research and public
health implications by enhancing understanding of the potential dangers of e-cigs, which are rapidly increasing
in use and which many believe is a safe alternative to cigarette smoking and an aid to helping tobacco smoking
cessation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9999664
- **Project number:** 5R01HL139239-04
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Terry Gordon
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $470,952
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-15 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9999664

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9999664, Air Quality, Child, and Adult Health in Homes Where E-Cigarettes Are Smoked (5R01HL139239-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9999664. Licensed CC0.

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