Co-Worker Upset about Secondhand Vapor

[casualuser]

I vape from time to time in my office. One of my co-workers in the next door office has been complaining to management about it citing that its not FDA approved and that she is being exposed to second hand nicotine vapor.

Is this a legitimate complaint? Are there any documents or research that shows that second hand vapor is a NON-issue?

 

[Pamdane]

Bring in a room vaporizer like the one you use when you have a chest cold. THEN ask that question....

 

[DaveP]

This is the link you want to print out and show the employee. It has a couple of nice graphics that show the toxicity of cigarettes compared to a Ruyan ecig, which all ecigs are patterned after. It's remarkably convincing. The text points out that vapor from an ecig contains no harmful components as per the 2008 World Health Organization's directives.

You also absorb most of the nic in the vapor. As long as you don't create side stream vapor by primer puffing before inhaling, my opinion would be that it's magnitudes safer than walking out the door where all the smokers are concentrated.
http://www.healthnz.co.nz/DublinEcigBenchtopHandout.pdf

 

[Anima]

Your coworker sounds insufferable, and the idea that she is getting some sort of nicotine contact high from an office over is laughable.

I would just say that you have switched to 0 nic juice, and then if she wants to ....., you can explain that air fresheners have the same chemical (though most people assume we are vaping water and nicotine, and I let them think it). Yes, it's a lie, but you're not lying about the amount of nicotine that you are exposing her to (zero), so I think it's justified given the ridiculous nature of what you are dealing with.

I always explain to people that I vape around what I am doing (they have a right to know what I'm blowing into the air), and if anyone ever expressed concern then I wouldn't do it in an enclosed space with them, but speaking to management instead of coming to you and bringing up FDA approval strikes me as hysterical and unreasonable. How does this person know that they aren't FDA-approved? Did someone vaping in the next office actually concern her so much that she did research?

 

[casualuser]

Apparently she did do research. This woman is really something. She went and complained to the boss without even giving me so much as a hint that she was unhappy about it. She's the type of person to actually file a lawsuit. Sadly not that laughable anymore.

I tried the zero nic thing and all she keeps saying is FDA blah blah blah. She wants proof from a reliable study or official website of some kind. I need to prove somehow that there's just air freshener in this thing...

 

[Anima]

Wow.

Go here and print out every journal article, lab report and press release they have. Then dump the huge stack on her desk and ask her if she has any more questions. Then go back to your office and stealth vape 36 mg juice like a freight train.

 

[Sdh]

I had the same problems with my hubs and son. No lawsuit though. They were allergic to the odor of the vape residual. I open windows when applicable and use a air purifier as well. Personally, I am allergic to perfumes. Maybe I can sue my co-workers for wearing smelly cheap perfume. J/K

My son does have a diagnosis of a lung anomaly.

 

[flbutterfly1]

I would bring in the room vaporizor and tell the co-worker I didn't know that my vaping concerned her so much and that you won't do it any more in your office. I would run the vaporizor and say you need it to moisten your lungs since you wont be vaping anymore. While the vaporizor is on I would sorta stealth vape and pretend its the vaporizor.

 

[Sdh]

OP-Is there a way to make her go away? J/K Start wearing some really loud, smelly perfume. I mean the strongest and nasty smelling stuff that was ever made. Or get some mucomyst which is a liquid used for nebulizers that smells like rotten eggs. My horns just popped out. Have a great day!

 

[cags]

............. Personally, I am allergic to perfumes. Maybe I can sue my co-workers for wearing smelly cheap perfume.

that is what I was going to say...does she wear perfume (cough, cough), does she use hair spray (sneeze, sneeze) and I am not J/K <g>

 

[Uncle Willie]

I tried the zero nic thing and all she keeps saying is FDA blah blah blah. She wants proof from a reliable study or official website of some kind. I need to prove somehow that there's just air freshener in this thing...

What is a reliable study .. ?? What is an official website .. ?? What did the boss say when he spoke to you .. ?? How much sway has this person got .. ?? I'm curious to get a bit more fleshing out on the story, if you don't mind ..

 

[jj2]

If she drinks hot coffee you could complain about second hand caffeine.
Of course there isn't really a danger but still.

Doesn't work to well if you drink coffee too.

 

[Uma]

You can show her the kleenex trick for proof. Blow vapor directly into a white kleenex in front of her and when she sees that there is zero staining on the kleenex she might settle down a little.
Remind her how the nicotine stains on your fingers even disappeared after switching to vaping.
Remind her that nicotine is not a problem, but rather it's the tar and smoot from traditional cigarettes that is the problem.

Dang, I feel for you, having to put up with such a PIA person.

 

[inkjet21]

I had the same problem with a smoker in the next office, he was complaining about the smell of the vape. so i changed flavors at work and he likes the smell of ry4. but before i changed to ry4 only at work i told him if he could eat fish and onions in his office witch by the way is way smellier then a e-cig i could vape what ever flavor i wanted ..we worked it out and all is good

 

[Pamdane]

Well, you could take her a copy of the court ruling that states FDA does NOT HAVE AUTHORITY to rule on them, and therefore what she is asking is uneducated nonsense. THEN show your BOSS the studies.

 

[SharonCC]

Well, as much as it sounds like she is a pain in the ###, I think you probably should vape somewhere else. She quotes all the FDA stuff, so you're not going to win that argument. It's not worth the aggravation...especially since vaping has so many questions attached to it right now. Guys, as far as the perfume goes, very few people in the workplace here, are allowed to wear scented products.....When I was teaching, I could not have a Peanut Butter sandwich, or nuts during the workday....There's a LOT of restrictions these days to accomodate other people's rights.

 

[b3ast1e]

Sadly I think what SharonCC said is smart advice. Seems to me from the description, that no amount of countering is going to get this busy little buzzy bee off you. She sounds the sort that's likely to sting too, given the slightest opening. She knows just enough to make trouble, and absence of data is often as useful to people like her as absolute proof when it comes to the workplace.

Man...I'm a live and let live sort of guy, and I work really very hard at trying to be empathic wherever possible, but people like your co-worker really do push the envelope.

 

[DaveP]

Is it the nicotine or does she think there's something in ejuice that is harmful? Have you explained that it is just PG and/or VG, flavors, and water? Would she have a problem if you used an FDA certified and approved nicotine inhaler?

Does anyone microwave popcorn in the office? That's one odor that I can't live with. At a distance, it's great. 10 feet away, it is a sickly smell from the microwave. Maybe that's the way it affects her. I'd try for a move to another location if it's a large office.

 

[casualuser]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Well I'm very close to the boss and she doesn't have much sway but he called me in and said that if she continues to complain I'm gonna have to stop the vaping. My only chance is to get her to stop complaining. I think many of you are right though - She has the FDA bug in her head and I don't know if any amount of info or websites will change it...

I'm going to try to print out these helpful documents and show them to her.

What is a reliable study .. ?? What is an official website .. ?? What did the boss say when he spoke to you .. ?? How much sway has this person got .. ?? I'm curious to get a bit more fleshing out on the story, if you don't mind ..

 

[Uma]

Flu season is coming up, which might be the perfect time to share info (with your boss too) about the wonders of PG vapor. Heck, it's even used in hospital misters.