Catherine Hess

California Department of Public Health | CDPH · Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch

Purpose To examine the chemical composition of JUUL pods collected from a convenience sample of 16 high schools in California to identify possible consumer modification or counterfeit use. Methods Using Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry, we quantitatively analyzed the nicotine, propylene glycol (PG), and vegetable glycerin (VG) in JUUL pods (n...

Introduction: Existing research on youth's adoption of alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS) has focused on identifying pathways of nicotine product use, specifically examining whether vaping encourages progression to smoking. Few studies have considered other pathways of initiation. Qualitative studies suggest that meanings of vaping vary...

Introduction Existing research on youth’s adoption of alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS) has focused on identifying pathways of nicotine product use, specifically examining whether vaping encourages progression to smoking. Few studies have considered other pathways of initiation. Qualitative studies suggest that meanings of vaping vary si...

Pathways and perceptions of e-cigarette use among youth in California Authors: Catherine A. Hess*, Tamar Antin, Prevention Research Center, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, CA, USA Keywords: E-cigarettes, trajectories Significance: Among the primary concerns regarding e-cigarettes is that they may serve as a gateway to smoking, and th...

Background: Smoking is a known risk factor for alcohol use and nicotine deprivation increases reported urge to drink and the volume of alcohol consumed. Despite falling rates of tobacco use among US adults, alcohol and tobacco use remain highly co-morbid. This research investigates smoking and e-cigarette use on daily ethanol intake and alcohol use...

Research suggests that Black youth are less likely to use e-cigarettes than their white counterparts, yet little is known as to why. We examined perceptions of e-cigarettes among Black young adults (ages 18–25) to explore the meanings these youth ascribe to e-cigarettes and the role that identity plays in how these devices are viewed. Analysis of i...

International Society for Environmental Epidemiology Conference, August 2015 - Poster Abstract

Manganese is a potent environmental toxin, with significant effects on human health. Manganese exposure is of particular concern in South Africa where in the last decade, lead in gasoline has been replaced by methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT). We investigated recent historical levels of manganese exposure in urban Gauteng, South Af...

Exposure to toxic elements and inorganic pollution is a significant threat to public and individual health worldwide. The analysis of archived bone tissue can serve as an invaluable proxy by which to investigate historical exposure to environmental pollution. This project entailed the investigation of bone element concentrations of lead, cadmium, m...

Human skeletal remains offer vast information regarding individual and population-level health. Biochemical analysis of human remains allows for investigation of exposure to environmental pollutants such as heavy metals. During the latter half of the 20th century biomonitoring of adult exposure to heavy metals was not conducted in Pretoria and Joha...

Human exposure to lead is a substantial public health hazard worldwide and is particularly problematic in the Republic of South Africa given the country's late cessation of leaded petrol. Lead exposure is associated with a number of serious health issues and diseases including developmental and cognitive deficiency, hypertension and heart disease....

Exposure to toxic elements is a significant threat to public and individual health worldwide. Toxic elements such as heavy metals are associated with increased mortality and morbidity in both men and women and are a substantial contributor to neurological deficits and developmental delay in children. Analysis of skeletal material yields important i...