Though e-cigarettes are viewed as safer alternatives to regular tobacco, a new study indicates they may be full of carcinogens, and far more dangerous than anyone previously thought.
Researchers at the Japanese Ministry of Health analyzed various brands of e- cigarettes and found carcinogens such as formaldehyde at dangerously high levels — up to 10 times the level found in the smoke from regular cigarettes.
E-cigarettes work by heating flavored liquid, which often contains nicotine, and turning it into a vapor that is inhaled. They’re branded as healthier options because smoke isn’t involved.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced plans to regulate e-cigarettes in this country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that e-cigarette use has tripled in recent years among American teenagers.
(Source: WTOP)
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3 Responses
This report is very misleading and presents only a small part of the research (I know YWN is not the source). Usually reporters should interview experts in the field before reporting on technical information.
Formaldehyde in e-cigarettes has been the already been subject of much research and it has been consistently shown to be bellow workplace exposure safety limits.
See the most wide-ranging review of chemical exposure on this topic:
Burstyn, Igor. “Peering through the mist: systematic review of what the chemistry of contaminants in electronic cigarettes tells us about health risks.” BMC public health 14.1 (2014): 18.
Recently concern has been raised after machine-tests found in a newer high wattage device – used to deliver more vapor – formaldehyde levels similar to cigarette smoke.
See Kosmider, Leon, et al. “Carbonyl Compounds in Electronic Cigarette Vapors—Effects of Nicotine Solvent and Battery Output Voltage.” Nicotine & Tobacco Research (2014): ntu078.
However, preliminary research which is ongoing shows that even in high voltage devices, people do not allow their products to overheat. So machine tests are inappropriate (See “E-cigarette research: temperature of evaporation”).
Now, regarding the Japanese study, here’s the rest of the story:
“Prof Kunugita contacted me again. He mentioned that the newsmedia reports refer to a recent evaluation of a newer-generation device, in which he found 1600μg formaldehyde per 15 puffs. It is true that this level is 10 times higher than what is present in tobacco cigarettes. However, this is an unpublished result, a single extreme case out of the many products he tested, and we do not know what went wrong in that case (e.g. high power levels, low levels of liquid inside, malfunctioning device etc). Still, the media frenzy is completely inappropriate.”
– cigarette-research [dot] com
Last week an article claimed that a laptop was infected with spyware by a rechargeable e-cig that was plugged into a USB port.
Zvei Dinim, thank you. I couldn’t care less about e cigarettes, but it’s nice to see a well written and reasoned response.