Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in adults differ by tobacco product type and frequency of use: Data from the U.S. Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study

摘要

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental pollutants formed from incomplete combustion of organic matter. PAHs are known carcinogens and exposure can occur through smoking. Information about PAHs exposure by tobacco product type and frequency of use is limited. To address this gap, we evaluated exposure to PAHs among 11,519 adult participants in Wave 1 (2013—2014) of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. From self-reported information, we categorized participants based on their use of tobacco products as never-tobacco user, exclusive current established combustible products user (e.g. cigarette smoker), and exclusive current established non-combustible products user (e.g., e-cigarette user). We further classified tobacco users as exclusive cigarette user, exclusive smokeless product user, and exclusive e-cigarette user. Last, we categorized frequency of product use (everyday vs some days) and time since use. We evaluated associations between tobacco product user categories and PAHs urinary biomarkers geometric mean concentrations determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Combustible products users had significantly higher concentrations of all biomarkers than non-combustible products users and never users; non-combustible products users had significantly higher concentrations than never users for most biomarkers. Everyday cigarette and smokeless product users had significantly higher concentrations for most biomarkers than some days' users; cigarette and smokeless product users who used the product in the last hour had significantly higher concentrations of most biomarkers than other occasional cigarette or smokeless product users, respectively. By contrast, everyday e-cigarette users' concentrations of most biomarkers did not differ significantly from those in some days' e-cigarette users; we did not observe clear trends by time of last use among e-cigarette users. These data showed that users of tobacco products had higher PAHs urinary biomarker concentrations compared to never users, and concentrations differed by type and frequency of tobacco product used.