E-Cigarettes Increase the Risk of Cancer

New studies are showing that e-cigarettes are much more harmful than previously thought. According to new research published in Environmental Science & Technology, the vapor from e-cigarettes contains two previously unidentified chemicals that can cause cancer. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory used two different electronic cigarettes and simulated vaping at different battery power settings.

When they analyzed the vapor emitted from the e-cigarettes they found that it released 31 harmful chemicals, including two possibly cancer causing compounds that have never been previously found in e-cig vapor. They found that the higher the temperature inside the coil in the electronic cigarette, the higher the amount of chemicals emitted. They also found that e-cigs with one heating coil instead of two also released higher chemical levels.

Potential Cancer Risk High

Several doctors and medical professionals say long-term use of e-cigarettes could prove harmful because of their potential to cause cancer. In a paper recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers warned that the harmful substances in the form of formaldehyde-containing hemiacetals might be formed during the heating and vaporization process of e-cigarettes. These hemiacetals come from the e-cig liquids including nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerol or both, and other chemicals commonly used to flavor these e-cigs.

Hemicetals basically injure the respiratory tract causing a severe form of inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. In the case of e-cigs, lung cancer risk could be significantly increased just like tobacco smoking, probably worse. Researchers say that long-term vaping with e-cigarettes increases a person’s susceptibility to cancer by five times. The average e-cig smoker inhales the same amount of formaldehyde, which a smoker consuming nearly five packs of cigarettes would get.

Same Old Dangers, New Packaging

Safety advocates have fought for decades to reduce smoking in the U.S. E-cigarette companies are resuscitating a monster that these advocates have worked for many years to slay. Young people are taking up smoking again with e-cig companies luring them with flavors like cotton candy, cherry and bubblegum. The e-cigarette industry is also putting a whole lot of misleading information out there telling consumers that they can use e-cigarettes as a way of quitting traditional cigarettes. What’s the point of that if your cancer risk is still high with e-cigs? These companies have tried to hide what’s in the e- cig vapors for years now. What we’re seeing with studies and new research is just the truth beginning to emerge.