With over 8,000 flavored additives to choose from, e-cigarettes are selling like pancakes these days. But a new research has warned that these flavorings contain high amounts of cancer-causing chemicals.
Based on the findings of the study carried out by researchers from the Desert Research Institute in Nevada, consuming or inhaling flavored liquids has been linked to elevated risk of heart disease and cancer.
To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers measured concentrations of 12 aldehydes in aerosols produced by three common e-cigarette devices. Five different flavors were tested in each device to verify if the additives affect chemical production during vaping. They also tested two unflavored e-liquids.
After stimulating real-life vaping in each device, it was found that liquids with higher flavor content yielded higher amounts of aerosols due to the pyrolysis process. Pyrolysis, which refers to the process in which the gadget rapidly heats, has been linked to the formation of toxic compounds.
Moreover, it was also discovered that the amount of aldehydes produced exceeded health recommendations for hazardous chemical exposure in each experiment.
According to lead researcher Andrey Khylstov, the process in which flavoring compounds in e-cigarette liquids influence the chemical composition and toxicity of the vapor is unknown. He then concluded that the production of toxic aldehydes is exponentially dependent on the flavoring compounds’ concentration.
“One puff of any of the flavored e-liquids that we tested exposes the smoker to unacceptably dangerous levels of these aldehydes, most of which originates from thermal decomposition of the flavoring compounds,” he told The Daily Mail UK.
Khylstov recommends further investigations on the effects of flavoring additives on the formation of aldehydes as well as other toxic compound in e-cigarette vapors.
Are e-cigarettes gateway to smoking?
A recent study has found that teenagers who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke tobacco in the future.
E-cigarettes, which have been promoted by many public health experts as a quit-smoking aid, are being used by about 2.4 million middle school and high school students, according to the Centers for Disease Control.