The Risks Of E-Cigarettes & Vaping

Naughty_Felid said:
Isn't it poor research though? Not had a chance to look into it.
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Here we go.

No, there's still no evidence e-cigarettes are as harmful as smoking
Professor Linda Bauld unpicks recent headlines around a study looking at the impact of e-cigarette vapour on human cells, and finds little support for the claim that they’re as harmful as smoking

Thursday 31 December 2015 13.22 GMTLast modified on Thursday 31 December 201514.32 GMT

Just under a year ago, I wrote a response to an article by a journalist who claimed there was no evidence that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Since then, many new studies have been published, including a Cochrane review showing their promise for aiding smoking cessation, and a comprehensive review for Public Health England that concluded, as previous reports have done, that e-cigarettes were significantly safer to users than continuing to smoke.

Yet the debate in the media rages on, fuelled in part by misleading press releases from journals and academics. The latest example involves a study published online in the journal Oral Oncology in November, but press released just this week, at a time when many smokers are making new year resolutions to stop smoking. The press release cited the lead author who concluded that ‘based on the evidence to date, I believe that [e-cigarettes] are no better than smoking regular cigarettes’.

So what did the study involve? A team who specialised in studying head and neck cancer conducted a lab study that exposed human epithelial cells (the type that line the mouth and lungs) in Petri dishes to the vapour from two brands of e-cigarettes. The cells were treated with e-cigarette extract every three days for up to eight weeks, with some of the extract containing nicotine and some being nicotine-free.

At the end of the treatment period, the cells were harvested and examined for damage using established methods. The treated cells were more likely to show DNA damage, and some of the cells died. The authors highlight in the press release that DNA strand breaks were observed, damaging the cellular repair process, and that this can ‘set the stage for cancer’. Worse damage was observed in the cells exposed to the e-liquid that contained nicotine, but the nicotine free liquid also altered the cells. ...

http://www.theguardian.com/science/...idence-e-cigarettes-are-as-harmful-as-smoking
 
As evidence emerges that e-cigarettes are not as safe as advertisers claim, a new study shows that flavorings classed as "Generally Recognized as Safe" by the US Food and Drug Administration are best avoided in smoking. The findings are presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, DC.

E-cigarettes are assumed to be safe, but research is proving otherwise.
Cigarettes kill more than 480,000 people annually in the US. Since e-cigarettes appeared on the scene, many assume them to be a safer alternative, because smokers are not inhaling known carcinogens.

But as researchers analyze the contents of e-cigarettes, they are finding that some of them could be as risky as tobacco.

Ilona Jaspers, PhD, professor of pediatrics and director of the curriculum in toxicology at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine has been researching new and emerging tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.

Having already found that cigarette smoking significantly impairs the immune responses of mucosal cells in the respiratory system, Jaspers' lab is now looking at how e-cigarette chemicals affect immune responses in smokers' airways.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306444.php
 
The Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health is calling for a full ban on e-cigarettes after a study they commissioned discovered that e-cigarettes contain a million more cancer-causing substances than polluted air.
The research, carried out by the Baptist University, also found a type of flame retardant in the devices that affected the reproductive system and could also lead to cancer.

Thirteen random electronic cigarettes available on the Chinese market were analyzed and returned worrying results: the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a by-product of burning petroleum also found in polluted roadside air, ranged from 2.9 to 504.5 nanograms per milliliter.

That’s “at least one million times more than roadside air in Hong Kong,” according to Dr Chung Shan-shan, assistant professor in the Baptist University’s biology department.

Another substance of concern found in abundance is Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). These are flame retardants that are widely used in the manufacturing of furniture and electronic products.

With an average 5 nanograms per milliliter in a conventional cigarette, the number of PBDEs in e-cigarettes range from 1.7 to 1,490 nanograms per milliliter.

https://www.rt.com/news/334160-electronic-cigarette-cancer-risk/#.VtbntXxoPuE.twitter
 
Hong Kong biology professor cannot understand the difference between mLs of e-liquid and mLs of breathing air
By Dr Farsalinos

Today I received a large number of messages about a new scary story in the media, coming from Hong Kong. The story says that e-cigarettes are “a million times” more harmful than outdoor air. I was intrigued to see what kind of a story that was, and once again I was shocked. Not only it is another story far distanced from the truth but, if the statement of an assistant professor of biology is accurately reported, it is a complete disgrace for the scientist, the department and the university.

Without publishing any details and without reporting anything on the methodology and the samples tested, scientists from the Baptist University in Hong Kong said they tested 13 types of e-cigarettes available in the local market and found polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at levels of 2.9 to 504.5 ng per mL (ng/mL). Trying to compare this to outdoor air levels, Dr Dr Chung Shan-shan, assistant professor in the university’s biology department said: “ [Level of PAHs] in e-cigarettes is at least one million times more than roadside air in Hong Kong”. But how exactly is this comparison made?

First of all, the definition of PAHs is: “a class of environmental pollutants created primarily from incomplete combustion of various organic materials including tobacco”. We all know that there is no complete or incomplete combustion of any material in e-cigarettes, so I really doubt whether their findings are valid. Of course, there is no study published, no methodology or any other detail mentioned; this is just a media story. Beyond that, I made a quick search online to find the levels of PAHs in outdoor air in Hong Kong (sorry, I have better things to do and I cannot waste more of my time for this report). I found a paper from 1998, finding levels of PAHs up to 48 ng/m3 (cubic meter = 1,000,000 (million) mL) in Hong Kong. So, the levels in outdoor air are 48 ng per 1,000,000 mL. Obviously the scientist quoted in the media story compared mLs of air with mLs of e-liquid. This is not misinformation, not misinterpretation and not a mathematical mistake. It is simply and outrageously ridiculous…

http://www.ecigarette-research.org/research/index.php/whats-new/whatsnew-2015/238-h-k
 
One of the oddities of our times is why governments are not enthusiastically endorsing e-cigs - and taxing them...
 
Cochise said:
One of the oddities of our times is why governments are not enthusiastically endorsing e-cigs - and taxing them...
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They'd need to thoroughly research them first - see if they're harmful, addictive, dangerous to nearby non-users, etc.
 
That's never stopped them in the past :)
 
These days it's different though. Everything has to be tested.
 
You need lots of special departments, to waste money on, plus lots of littler departments to waste some more money on doing what the other departments do etc
 
Increased use of e-cigarettes would assist smokers to quit, study finds
Updated / Jan. 5, 2017 13:07
a study on the cost effectiveness of aids for quitting smoking in Ireland.

The study found the most effective way to quit smoking is a combination of Varenicline, a prescription-only medication, along with nicotine replacement therapy including nicotine gum, patches, inhalers, intranasal and oral sprays, and tablets.

HIQA's analysis also looks at how many people use e-cigarettes to stop smoking in Ireland, as well as trends in other countries, while acknowledging that research into e-cigarettes is only beginning.

Director of Health Technology Assessment Dr Máirín Ryan said the research "found a high level of uncertainty surrounding both the clinical and cost-effectiveness of e-cigarettes.

"While the long-term effects of using e-cigarettes have not yet been established, data from Healthy Ireland reveals that 29% of smokers currently use e-cigarettes as an aid to quitting smoking." ...

http://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0105/842815-smoking-hse-study/
 
Are e-cigarettes a gateway product that lead more people, especially teens, to smoke regular cigarettes?

No, according to public health researchers from the University at Buffalo and the University of Michigan writing in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

“The national trends in vaping and cigarette smoking do not support the argument that vaping is leading to smoking,” said Lynn Kozlowski, the paper’s lead author and a professor of community health and health behavior in UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions.

Kozlowski, PhD, added that research in the U.S. shows that as use of e-cigarettes — the act of which is known as vaping — has increased, overall smoking rates have decreased.

Kozlowski’s co-author is Kenneth Warner, the Avedis Donabedian Distinguished University Professor of Public Health in Michigan’s School of Public Health. Both Kozlowski and Warner are also former deans of their respective public health schools. ...

http://www.psypost.org/2017/03/e-cigarettes-gateway-smoking-not-likely-study-says-48233
 
I understand that some US States are banning the electric cigs.

Wondered how long it would be before that happened.
 
This thread is being established to consolidate postings on the down side(s) of vaping.
 
Apart from the reports of some blowing up (true or false?) I have not heard anything else about them, my two nephews smoke them, they blow it out the window in my car, it looks like my head gasket has gone
 
Report in today's Guardian of the first fatality attributed to the habit.

Vaping as a step away from cigarettes was an early ploy. Then I remember stalls set up in a working-class area near me where the invitation was for people to rediscover the pleasure of smoking. They soon moved to shops - often the only new businesses on the block. Plenty of premises available.

A sorry business, in every sense. :(
 
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So they have to find out which of the stuff is causing it?, cause there is so much of the fluid out there, and it is not just the shops, the car boot sell it as well, god knows what goes into the stuff, it smells more like food flavouring, maybe that would be better to smoke
 
It's a quid a bottle, unregulated, so far as I know. Could be rat-poison and sold everywhere. :dunno:
 
True, might as well smoke the e cigs, what the heck is in those tho?
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Report in today's Guardian of the first fatality attributed to the habit. ...
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This Washington Post article (re-published at Science Alert) provides some additional background and data ...
The First Person Has Died From a Mysterious Lung Illness Linked to Vaping

Illinois officials said Friday that a person who had recently used an e-cigarette and was hospitalized with severe lung illness had died.

The death appears to be the first among a spate of mysterious lung illnesses now under investigation by state and federal health officials in connection to vaping — at least 193 cases in 22 states, many in teens and young adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Reports of the number of people hospitalized for vaping-related lung illnesses have doubled in the past week, Illinois officials said in a statement. At least 22 people, ranging in age from 17 to 38, have experienced respiratory illness after using e-cigarettes or vaping, it said.

State officials are working with local health departments to investigate another 12 individuals.

The affected individuals have had symptoms including cough, shortness of breath and fatigue, officials said. Some also experienced vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms worsened over a period of days or weeks before they were hospitalized.

Illinois officials said the death was in an adult who died this month but did not provide further details about the person or what device or product had been used.

While some of the cases appear similar, officials said they don't know whether the illnesses are associated with the e-cigarette devices themselves, or with specific ingredients or contaminants inhaled through them.

Health officials have said patients have described vaping a variety of substances, including nicotine, marijuana-based products and do-it-yourself "home brews."

In many cases reported across the country, including in Illinois, patients have acknowledged using products that contain THC, the main ingredient that produces the high from marijuana, officials said. No specific product has been identified in all cases, nor has any product been conclusively linked to illnesses.

Even though cases appear similar, it is not clear whether all these cases have a common cause or whether they are different diseases with similar symptoms.

Officials said Friday they don't know why a surge of illnesses is surfacing now since various forms of the battery-powered e-cigarette devices have existed for more than a decade. Brian King, deputy director for research translation for the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, said cases could have been occurring previously, "but we weren't necessarily capturing them."

The substances in e-cigarette aerosol can contain ingredients that are potentially harmful to lung health, he said. They include ultrafine particles and flavorings, such as diacetyl, that have been linked to respiratory illnesses.

Mitch Zeller, who heads the Center for Tobacco Products at the Food and Drug Administration, said the agency is working to identify the products used, where they were purchased, how they were used and whether other compounds were added.

"That information needs to be strung together for every single one of these cases to see if any patterns emerge," he said. ...

E-cigarettes have grown in popularity over the past decade despite little research on their long-term effects. In recent years, health authorities have warned of an epidemic of vaping by teenagers. Millions of Americans use e-cigarettes, with the greatest use among young adults.

In 2018, more than 3.6 million U.S. middle and high school students said they had used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, according to the CDC. The leading brand, Juul, said it is monitoring the reports of illnesses and has "robust safety monitoring systems in place."
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SOURCE: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-myst...inked-to-vaping-and-the-first-person-has-died
 
My bad i didnt see the mention of e cigs, do they both have the same stuff in them?
 
A friend of a friend has developed emphysema after moving over to vaping. He was a smoker before, which didn't help - but he did get bronchitis and pneumonia, which he says he never had with ordinary fags. Now, he's got emphysema.
The vapes produce huge clouds of steam, the chemical composition of which is unknown. Who knows? Some of them are probably breathing in a cheap concoction that is carcinogenic.
 
This new study outlnies multiple somatic effects of vaping - all of which may not be benign in the long run ...
Vaping Just Once Could Immediately Change Your Blood Vessels, Even Without Nicotine

For more than a decade, vaping has been sold as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. But puffing on an e-cigarette is not without its harms.

In recent years, a growing number of concerns have surfaced over vaping and its potential to disrupt our health. Normal cigarettes are a leading cause of cardiovascular disease in the United States, and a new study suggests the effects of e-cigarettes may also travel beyond the lung.

After just one puff, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found an immediate change in the body's blood vessels and circulation, even when there was absolutely no nicotine present.

"E-cigarettes are advertised as not harmful, and many e-cigarette users are convinced that they are just inhaling water vapour," says radiologist Alessandra Caporale.

"But the solvents, flavourings and additives in the liquid base, after vaporisation, expose users to multiple insults to the respiratory tract and blood vessels." ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-sing...-your-blood-vessels-even-without-any-nicotine
 
This February 2018 item addresses the surprising fact that heavy metal residues are making their way into vapors ...

Toxic Heavy Metals Are Leaking From E-Cigarettes Into The Vapours, Study Shows

Only a few weeks ago, UK health bodies suggested electronic cigarettes should be in hospital shops to encourage smokers to wean themselves off their habit.

But a new study has discovered toxic levels of heavy metals in e-cigarette aerosols, once again raising doubts over just how safe vaping really is.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analysed e-cigarette vaporisers borrowed from 56 daily vapers, and found many were being exposed to potentially toxic levels of chromium, nickel, and lead.

Their research comes on the back of a preliminary study they'd conducted in 2016, which had detected elevated levels of nickel and chromium in the urine and saliva of e-cigarette users.

High concentrations of these heavy metals have been linked to a variety of health conditions in the past, including cardiovascular disease, brain damage, and a variety of cancers.

While the studies don't go as far as to connect vaping with any of these health problems, it's no great leap to infer there's an increase in risk.
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FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/toxic-levels-heavy-metals-heating-coil-ecigarette-vaping
 
Smoking in any form is hazardous. Your lungs are there to process clean air.

Just give it up.
 
New Mexico authorities cite a linkage between vaping THC products and the latest severe lung disease effects reported in their state.
State: 8 cases of severe lung disease from vaping, e-cigs

New Mexico Department of Health officials say they’re now investigating eight cases of severe lung disease associated with vaping and e-cigarette use.

They say the eight state residents have required hospitalization following the development of respiratory symptoms such as cough and difficulty breathing.

Five of them required intensive care during their hospitalizations.

State health officials also say all of patients who have been interviewed regarding vaping behavior reported the use of vape cartridges containing Tetra hydro cannabinol (THC) oil.

The patients range from 17 to 46 years of age, five are male and all eight live in either Santa Fe, Los Alamos or Bernalillo county.
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SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/639fe94f052641d695415269d5a52209
 
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