Primary aromatic amines (PAAs) in third-hand smoke collected from waterpipe/cigarette cafés: Level and exposure assessment

Third-hand smoke (THS) has been recognized as a main exposure route to the chemical content of tobacco products. In the present study, potential exposure of people to primary aromatic amines (PAAs) release from indoor settled dusts in smoking and non-smoking cafés were studied for the first time. Nine compounds of PAAs in the indoor dust samples of waterpipe, cigarettes and non-smoking cafés in Bushehr were measured by using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The mean concentration levels of ∑PAAs released through settled indoor dusts of waterpipe, cigarettes and non-smoking cafés were 728.23, 331.37 and 66.11 ng g−1, respectively. The results showed that the mean concentration levels of ∑PAAs were ranked as: waterpipe cafés ˃ cigarette cafés ˃ non-smoking cafés. Among the measured PAAs, aniline (ANL) and 2, 6-dimethylaniline (2, 6-DMA) have the highest levels. The findings also showed that the levels of PAAs had a negative and significant relationship (P