The amount of harmful chemicals released by e-cigarettes increased with usage and the temperature of the divice, says a new study.
A new study finds that e-cigarettes are safer than normal ones but still dangerous for your health. Many harmful chemicals are common to both types of smoking, but the amount released by e-cigarettes is overall lower and depends on the temperature, model, and age of the device.
A team of researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California studied two different electronic cigarettes at different battery power settings while simulating vaping. They also analyzed various e-liquids and found that the disintegration of two solvents forms toxic chemicals such as acrolein- an eye and respiratory irritant- and formaldehyde which causes nausea and coughing.
The study, published in the journal Environment Science & Technology, discovered that the amount of carcinogenic chemicals increased with both the usage and the temperature of the device. The chemicals were less prevalent in the vapor resulted from the first few times the e-cigarette was used compared to later puffs when the device started to heat up.
According to Lara Gundel, the co-author of the study, the total emissions of acrolein for an e-cigarette are around 90 to 100 micrograms, based on the assumption that 20 puffs are equal to a normal cigarette which emits 400 to 650 micrograms.
“In some cases, we saw aldehyde levels increase 60 percent between cycles 1 and 9,” stated Mohamad Sleiman, co-author and Berkeley researcher.
Previous studies on e-cigarettes have found that the liquids used for vaping contain various toxic chemicals and a number of carcinogens present in normal cigarettes as well. One element of novelty of this new study is the discovery of two chemicals, never previously seen in vapor, propylene oxide, and glycidol, which can lead to cancer.
The correlation between the quantity of harmful chemicals released and various aspects of the e-cigarette can help manufacturers develop safer devices while maintaining its benefits. This is still a highly debated issue but the general consensus of scientists who have studied the effects of e-cigarettes is that they’re less dangerous than conventional ones but not completely without risks.
Their ability to lean people off of normal tobacco cigarettes and eventually to make them completely quit smoking is one of the reasons for the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes.
Do you use e-cigarettes? If so, will these results impact your smoking habits?
Image source: Wikimedia
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.