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E-cigarettes don’t contain most of the 400 contaminants and ingredients found in regular tobacco cigarettes, studies have shown.
However, the vape liquids that fuel e-cigarettes contain almost 2,000 chemicals that science doesn’t even recognize, according to a new investigation by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the first study to look so broadly at vape products’ components.
The study looked at four tobacco-flavored vape liquids as well as aerosols used to pump the liquids into the electronic smoking device or e-cigarette.
Using liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry, the scientists found almost 2,000 compounds in the liquids, most of which are unknown.
Among those that were recognized: three industrial chemicals, a pesticide, two compounds linked to respiratory problems, and caffeine.
The study also found condensed hydrocarbons usually produced by combustion, but these were in the liquids before they were burned.
Similar research in Australia found that each of 65 vape compounds tested contained at least one harmful compound, including benzaldehyde, which irritates airways, and trans cinnamaldehyde, which suppresses the immune system.
Six of the vape tanks tested held traces of nicotine, even though they were advertised as nicotine-free.
The Hopkins study makes no claim that the noxious compounds are present in concentrations that will cause health problems.
“People just need to know that they’re inhaling a very complex mixture of chemicals when they vape and, for a lot of these compounds, we have no idea what they actually are,” stated Hopkins environmental scientist Carsten Prasse, who was part of the research group.
TRENDPOST: E-cigarettes are marketed as healthy or less-harmful alternatives to traditional cigarettes. These studies show that there is not enough evidence to justify the claim; in fact, the data indicates that e-cigarettes could simply pose a different array of health threats, not lesser ones, than old-fashioned tobacco roll-ups.
The takeaway: there is no “safe” way to smoke.