At his Corte Madera home, Jeremiah Mock has stored a bevy of used vape cartridges, menthol cigarette butts and other tobacco- and cannabis-related waste.
It’s an odd collection to keep, but as a researcher at the University of California at San Francisco, the material serves as evidence of the growing public health crisis while highlighting the largely overlooked environmental threat associated with these products.
What’s more, all of this waste was picked up from parking lots at 12 public Bay Area high schools, including some in Marin. Out of the 893 waste items gathered from July 2018 to April 2019, 172 items, or 19%, were an e-cigarette or vape product.
“The spent vape cartridges and packaging from these oil cannabis concentrates is what was most shocking,” Mock said. “Towards the end of the study, I was equally shocked to find really large quantities of wrappers for little flavored cigars called cigarillos.”
The data collected has been compiled in a first-of-its-kind garbology study, co-authored by Yogi Hale Hendlin, a UCSF researcher, that was published last month in a weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mock said there has been little research on the environmental impacts of these products, which consist of microplastics, metals and combustible lithium ion batteries. And the pods are filled with nicotine or cannabis oil — which can be toxic if the oil comes into contact with skin or if ingested.
The study comes amid the widespread youth vaping epidemic at a time when reports of vape-related deaths and illness are on the rise. The crisis hit home last week when Marin recorded its first vaping-related death.
“It’s just a terrible and totally preventable tragedy for this young woman, her family and friends,” Mock said of the death of Amanda Margot Arconti, a 45-year-old resident of Vacaville and Novato.
“The CDC has cautioned that they’re still very, very early in research, and there is a lot that we still don’t know,” Mock said. “What we can really say is that people should not be using these products across the board. It’s just far too risky.”
Vaping devices, or e-cigarettes, are battery-powered mechanisms used to inhale an aerosol that might contain nicotine, cannabis, flavorings and other chemicals.
As of Nov. 13, the CDC has confirmed 2,172 cases of e-cigarette or vaping related lung illnesses and 42 deaths in 49 states. Most of the illnesses have been linked to a vitamin E acetate, a chemical compound found in illicit products sold on the black markets. The oil is added as a filler.
One of the noticeable data points in the study was that Juul brand pods and other vape products were found in abundance at schools in more affluent communities, where as cigarillos were more common at the lower-income schools. In either case, flavored products were prevalent.
Of 74 Juul pods found, 73 were flavored and 47 were mint and other menthol. Mock and his colleagues conducted extra litter scavenges at one upper-income area school three months after Juul Labs announced it was discontinuing flavors, except for Cool Mint and Classic Menthol. That search yielded 127 mint, 20 mango and four fruit pods.
At four high schools with populations composed of predominantly lower-income African-American and Latino students, researchers found 71 cigar or cigarillo wrappers and mouthpieces, 94% of which were flavored products. “No little cigar or cigarillo items were found at schools in upper-income communities,” the study said.
Across all schools, researchers collected 620 cigarette butts, including 403 that were identifiable. Menthol butts accounted for 60%, 38% and 28% at low-, middle- and upper-income schools, respectively. Fourteen items were cannabis products, including vaporizer pens, cartridges and packaging.
Pam Granger, chairwoman of the Smoke-Free Marin Coalition, said this is a timely study considering the reports of vaping-related deaths and injuries.
“Now it turns out that it’s not just teens and adults who get hurt, it’s the environment too,” she said.
Bob Curry, head of the county’s tobacco-related disease program, serves as the staff liaison for the coalition. Curry said the study acts as ammunition in the battle for more strict tobacco controls.
“We feel that certainly some individuals who aren’t necessarily thinking about themselves and their health may think twice about the environmental concerns,” he said. “Now that Dr. Mock’s study is published, hopefully this will motivate more people to protect their health and the environment.”
Dr. Matt Willis, the Marin County public health officer, concurred, adding that the study validates what many health officials believed to be true.
“It’s a powerful illustration that young people are buying and using these products illegally as a direct result of the way they are marketed,” he said, noting that a recent study showed that one in three 11th graders in Marin reported using e-cigarettes.
“Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances out there,” he said. “And what we can learn from these tragic (vaping-related) deaths is that the message is that this is not safe.”
