Resources

Thirdhand Smoke Research Consortium
Cannabis Research Considerations
Exposomics as a tool to investigate differences in health and disease by sex and gender
US Department of Health and Human Services, National Toxicology Program “Frequently Used Resources”
California Department of Public Health, Tobacco Product Waste in California: A White Paper 2022
California Department of Public Health, Secondhand Smoke
Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview by World Health Organization

Environmental exposure and toxicology

Support innovative and high impact research that advances policies to reduce environmental exposure to the toxic effects of tobacco smoke and its residue; assess and eliminate the environmental impact of cigarette waste; examine toxicology and exposure science of new and emerging tobacco products.

TRDRP will support innovative and high impact projects that use environmental research and health communication strategies to prevent exposure to all commercial tobacco products, secondhand (SHS) and thirdhand (THS) smoke, chemical residue interactions, and tobacco product waste (TPW) bioaccumulation. TRDRP will continue to support toxicology studies of new and emerging tobacco products alone or in combination with cannabis.

Examples of relevant research topics:

Integrate approaches to prevent environmental exposure to all tobacco products, SHS and THS with implementation of tobacco cessation in multi-unit housing, all indoor public spaces or other settings.
Devise strategies for vulnerable communities to mitigate exposure to tobacco product(s) and Tobacco Product Waste (TPW).
Identify tobacco products, SHS, THS and TPW chemical exposure levels, chemical composition of dust and aerosol particle composition and chemical interactions using technologies and model systems, and identify biomarkers to distinguish tobacco product use, and cannabis product co-use.
Determine potential toxicological and health effects of tobacco products containing non-menthol synthetic cooling agents (e.g., WS-3 and WS-23).
Enable prediction of human health effects of tobacco products by identifying causal links of dose-response toxicity assessments on human biological pathways and conduct validation studies using primary human cell models.
Devise strategies to mitigate exposure to tobacco toxicants.
Conduct epidemiologically based exposure research to identify and characterize the tobacco control needs of vulnerable populations and communities.
Identify innovative methodologies to assess and reduce the environmental and economic impact of the production, sale and use of tobacco products and new product waste and bioaccumulation.
Evaluate the impact of environmental endpoints of TPW including microplastics on the environment and ecosystems such as soil, aquatic systems, waste management systems and storm drains.
Determine the environmental burden of E-cigarettes product waste components such as batteries, and metallic components.

NOTE: TRDRP currently funds a statewide consortium on thirdhand smoke (THS) research (https://thirdhandsmoke.org/) which includes the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Tobacco Biomarkers Laboratory. This laboratory is directed by Peyton Jacob, Ph.D. and Neal Benowitz, M.D. in the Clinical Pharmacology Program, Department of Medicine at UCSF. Investigators in the Clinical Pharmacology Program conduct studies on the pharmacology and toxicology of tobacco use including development of new biomarkers and analytical methods. The UCSF Tobacco Biomarkers Laboratory collaborates with other investigators to analyze samples on a recharge basis, and they welcome collaborations with TRDRP applicants. Tobacco product toxicants that can be detected and quantified include nicotine and metabolites, carcinogen biomarkers, thirdhand smoke components, tobacco specific nitrosamines, and various smoke toxicants. THC, CBD, and metabolites can also be detected and quantified. The following link describes the various assays and costs: https://cancer.ucsf.edu/research/cores/tobacco-biomarkers.