A newly-proposed rule from the Orange County Board of Health would prohibit e-cigarette use in the enclosed areas of restaurants and bars in Orange County. The ban would include municipalities and unincorporated areas of the county.

The board developed the proposed rule after reviewing evidence on the risks of secondhand e-cigarette aerosol exposure in January.

Coby Jansen Austin is the senior public health educator at the Orange County Health Department, and she says the board was concerned over the impact of secondhand exposure on public health in the county.

“We know that some of the chemical constituents in the aerosol have some potential health risks,” Jansen Austin says. “They may be toxic at the cellular level. They may affect immunity. They may lead to certain types of diseases.

“The research is really emerging very quickly in this area, but we’re still learning a lot.”

Jansen Austin adds that the board is looking into this type of rule to protect the “most vulnerable” populations, including children with asthma, pregnant women and individuals who work in the impacted establishments.

Jansen Austin says that this proposed rule would put electronic cigarettes and other vapor products under similar guidelines regulating traditional cigarette smoke that are currently in place statewide.

The board is taking public comment through April 24 via an online survey, a telephone message line at (919) 245-2480, e-mail and traditional mail, which must be received by April 24 and addressed to the Orange County Health Department Attn: Proposed E-Cig Rule, 300 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough, NC 27278.

A public hearing will be held at seven o’clock on Wednesday, April 27, at the Orange County Health Department in Hillsborough.

Jansen Austin says the board will deliberate after the public hearing and vote that night.

“The board really wants to hear all perspectives and information and research that they can gather on this topic,” she says. “Particularly if you have any personal experience in terms of health, if there’s any research that you think would be important for the board to consider to please share that with them.”

You can read the draft rule and read over a FAQ sheet put together by the board before the public hearing.

Listen to the full conversation with Jansen Austin and WCHL’s Blake Hodge below: