Benzaldehyde's Vaping Effects Won't Kill You, But Can Make You Sick

Is vaping bad? Maybe the main problem is really a matter of how much and which products are used.

Some people use e-cigarettes as a stop-gap measure while they are tapering off tobacco for a few months at a time. Most people who use e-cigarettes vape 100 to 200 puffs every day for a decade or more. Dr. Maciej Goniewicz of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York set about to test vaping solutions to see if they contained benzaldehyde.

Goniewicz's teams purchased 145 e-cigarette products in a variety of flavors online. They tested 40 products that contained a combination of berry and tropical fruit flavors, 37 that contained tobacco flavor, 15 featuring flavors from alcoholic beverages, 11 chocolate flavors, 10 coffee flavors, 10 mint or menthol flavors, 10 cherry flavors, and 10 products featuring other flavorings.

They measured the chemicals in aerosol vapor from the liquids with an automatic smoking simulator. In each test, 30 puffs were taken from each cigarette in two series of 15 puffs with a five-minute interval between puffs, imitating the way vapers use their e-cigarettes. The machine trapped benzaldehyde on sorbent tubes, extracted, and then analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography.

The researchers noted:

"The benzaldehyde doses inhaled with 30 puffs from flavored e-cigarettes were often higher than the doses inhaled from conventional cigarettes." Of the 145 products actually sampled, benzaldehyde was found in 108.The researchers also noted that the benzaldehyde doses were highest in cherry-flavored nicotine solutions. Exposure to benzaldehyde from e-cigarettes was "1000 times lower" than occupational exposure of workers in chemical plants that make the compound, but perhaps this was because the amount of time in contact with vaping smoke was also 1000 times lower than a work day in the plant. Another way of interpreting the data is that vaping is like carrying around a little chemical plant, for benzaldehyde, but at least you don't have stay there all day long.

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What practical guidance can we take away from this study?

• First of all, if you vape, and you have chronic sore throat, at least stop using cherry-flavored vaping solution. This may not clear up the problem right away, but at least it will reduce the severity of allergic reactions and mitigate the effects of exposure to formaldehyde in your environment (from wash-and-wear fabric treatments, plug-in air fresheners, nail polish, baby wipes, real cigarettes, and manufactured wood). Check an e-cigarette review to find products that contain any benzaldehyde at all.
• Secondly, if you vape every day, or several times every day, try to avoid getting the vapor in your eyes, and if you do, use liquid tears several times a day. The eyes may be even more sensitive to benzaldehyde than your respiratory tract.
• Finally, don't be surprised if your doctor asks you if you vape, and if you use a cherry-flavored product. This research is being well publicized in the medical profession, and your doctor has probably heard about it.