E-cigarette environmental and fire/life safety risks in schools reported by secondary school teachers

Maryanne L Fakeh Campbell,Kevin R J Schroth,Derek G Shendell,Lauren N Gonzalez,Andrew Sansone

doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09319-8

Abstract

BackgroundTo identify if e-cigarette usage is an on-campus problem for secondary schools and evaluate initial school survey responses. More specifically, this survey can aid in identifying where students are seen using e-cigarettes, if smoke alarms have been newly inserted on school property, if smoke alarms have been tampered with to allow for vaping without detection; and, if any e-cigarette fires or explosions have occurred on school property.MethodsThis survey, disseminated to New Jersey secondary school teachers across seven sessions January–July 2019, resulted in 104 complete responses of 109 respondents. The survey was conducted after fire prevention, exit/egress, and life safety portions of “OSHA 10 Plus for General Industry” courses. Survey questions included number of times teachers observed students vaping and location where vaping in last 12 months, fire alarm installation and tampering, and fires or explosions and injuries from vaping/e-cigarette devices.ResultsMany (63%) respondents reported very or moderately common rates of vaping within their schools; however, three of four questions regarding school fire and smoke alarm use specifically to detect vaping had a majority of unsure/I don’t know responses.ConclusionResults suggested concerns regarding student vaping and e-cigarette use inside and outside secondary schools. Improved school detection and response are warranted.Trial registrationNot applicable.

Highlights

To identify if e-cigarette usage is an on-campus problem for secondary schools and evaluate initial school survey responses
Differences by region were analyzed by Chi Square analysis and were generally not statistically significant, which may be due to there being a statewide vaping issue not dependent on the region or to differences in respondent totals by region, among other factors not assessed
The breakdown of question responses by region were presented next to the total participant response in Tables 2 and 3 for comparison. The results of this survey suggested e-cigarette use is a common occurrence within New Jersey (NJ) secondary schools (Table 2), with 65 of the 104 (63%) respondents reporting vaping being either very common or moderately common

Summary

Introduction

To identify if e-cigarette usage is an on-campus problem for secondary schools and evaluate initial school survey responses. The growing trends in usage among youth have prompted the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to label e-cigarette use among young people as an emerging epidemic [6]. While it is illegal for people younger than age 21 to purchase e-cigarettes and vaping products, compliance and enforcement of minimum legal age laws are imperfect, e.g., at retail stores. In one study where 18 and 19 year-olds were instructed to covertly attempt to purchase tobacco or e-cigarettes to observe identification requests, 49.8% of retail shops observed failed to verify the identification, and 44.7% of observed retail shops completed the purchase transaction without identification [9]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion