E-Cigarettes A Million Times More Harmful Than Outdoor Air, Study Finds

A study at Baptist University in Hong Kong has found that the vapor from e-cigarettes contains up to 1,000,000 times more cancer-causing chemicals than ordinary outdoor air. As a result, the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, which commissioned the research, called for a ban on e-cigarettes as soon as possible fearing that they will become more popular.

What Are the Toxic Compounds in E-Cigarettes?

Analyzing 13 popular brands of e-cigarettes currently on sale in Hong Kong, the Baptist University scientists found a variety of toxins in the smoke.

• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These are a group of 100 chemicals that are formed in the incomplete burning of trash, coal, gasoline (petrol), and diesel. They are also found in oil spills, coal tar, and creosote. Pregnant women who are exposed to PAHs bear children who are more likely to suffer anxiety, asthma, depression, and ADHD. At least 10 chemicals in this group are associated with higher risks of lung cancer. Eight countries ban products that cause these chemicals to come in contact with the mouth or lungs. The Chinese researchers found that vaping smoke had concentrations of PAHs up to one million times higher than in roadside air.
• Polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs), a group of flame retardant chemicals used extensively in furniture and electronic products, are found in concentrations of up to 1490 nanograms per milliliter in vaping smoke. To be fair, these chemicals are also found in conventional cigarette smoke, but only in concentrations of 5.6 to 6.3 nanograms per milliliter, less than 1/2 of 1 percent as much. These chemicals interfere with the thyroid health, and they also interfere with the development of sex organs in the fetus when the mother is exposed to them before birth.
• Most products tested by the research group did not list nicotine as an ingredient, but contained it in significant amounts. Even the products that claimed to be nicotine-free contained nicotine.

The Hong Kong researchers did not release measurements of particulate matter, which is essentially "soot," but American researchers have found that vaping and e-cigarettes release almost as much particulate pollution as conventional (even filtered) cigarettes.

Why Hong Kong Health Officials Are Concerned About Vaping

There are two major reasons that the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health are eager to ban e-cigarettes as soon as possible. One reason is that the carcinogenic effects of the chemicals discovered in e-cigarettes vapor are cumulative. The more often you smoke, the more your risk of lung cancer goes up. The other reason for concern is that most users of vaping devices are aged 20 to 29. They will accumulate more of the toxic chemicals than they would if they had started later in life, and they are approaching the prime years for having babies.

READ The E-Cigarette: Benefits And Drawbacks

Regulation of e-cigarettes is probably simpler in China, or Hong Kong, than in many other countries. However, these and similar findings lend support to efforts to regulate or ban e-cigarettes in the European Union, Australia, Canada, and the United States. 

The Dangers Of Thirdhand Smoke From E-Cigarettes

Another danger of e-cigarettes is their contribution to "thirdhand" smoke. The dangers of smoking are direct, in the body of the smoker, from secondhand smoke, which is cigarette smoke or e-cigarette vapors inhaled by someone who is not smoking, and thirdhand smoke, which leaves residues on objects where the smoking takes place.  

Thirdhand smoke can actually be a bigger problem than secondhand smoke. Nicotine stays in fabrics exposed to cigarette or e-cigarette smoke for at least 18 months. Natural fabrics retain more nicotine than synthetic fabrics. Cotton absorbs 41 times as much nicotine and 78 times as much of the cancer-causing nitrosamines as polyester. Toddlers absorb nearly seven times as much nicotine from fabrics in rooms where people have smoked than they do from tobacco smoke or e-cigarette smoke itself. Adults absorb 24 times as much nicotine from fabrics as from secondhand smoke. The figures for cancer-causing nitrosamines are even worse. Toddlers absorb 16 times as much of the nitrosamines from fabrics as from second hand smoke, and adults absorb 56 times as much these cancer-causing chemicals.

Given that vaping releases up to 200 times more of certain toxic chemicals as conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are even more dangerous than regular cigarettes for children and adults who do not smoke, especially when vaping takes places indoors.

What does all of this mean?

• Contrary to the conventional wisdom, e-cigarettes are not safer than regular cigarettes, especially with regard to nicotine content. 
• The toxic effects of e-cigarettes on bystanders are conveyed by nicotine and nitrosamines left on fabric, especially on natural fabrics. It's important to smoke outside, whether you smoke regular cigarettes or e-cigarettes.
• Infants and toddlers have a some protection from the fact that their livers don't yet make enzymes that make certain chemicals in cigarette smoke or e-cigarette smoke even more toxic. However, pregnant women do make these enzymes, and the damage to the developing embryo and fetus is magnified. Exposure either to e-cigarettes or regular e-cigarettes during pregnancy causes lasting problems in brain development in the child.
• Heavy vaping is as likely to lead to lung cancer as heavy cigarette smoking. Despite what advertising says, e-cigarettes are not safe.

If you have quit smoking regular cigarettes and taken up e-cigarettes, you really haven't given up smoking. Not only is your new habit not safe, it is in some ways more dangerous than the habit you gave up. You can reduce the risks for yourself and for people around you, especially teens and young adults, by choosing American- or EU-made products that are labeled as nicotine-free, and by avoiding any product with cherry flavoring. The problem with cherry flavoring is that it contains a chemical called diacetyl, which is implicated in a severe respiratory disease known as bronchiolitis obliterans. The condition is also termed “popcorn lung” because it first appeared in workers who inhaled artificial butter flavor in microwave-popcorn processing facilities.

READ Exposing Ten Little-Known Facts About E-Cigarettes

There are just too many potential downsides to e-cigarettes to recommend them. If you must use them, at least them outside your home, and don't use them around people who already have respiratory conditions.