A Big Case Against E-Cigarettes
February 1, 2015
Electronic cigarettes have been taking over the smoking market, promoted as a healthier alternative to traditional smoking. Instead of burning tobacco, the battery-powered device heats up a fluid containing nicotine to create a vapor that can be inhaled. When we wrote about the new trend a year ago, we were skeptical. The industry isn’t regulated, which means it’s impossible to know how much nicotine you’re getting with each puff, and substances in e-cigarettes have been shown to decrease lung capacity.
Now, the New England Journal of Medicine says that the vapor from e-cigarettes contains a high concentration of formaldehyde. In the study, researchers drew the vapor from the e-cigs into a syringe, to simulate the lungs, and looked at the chemicals inside. The alarming amount of formaldehyde found, they say, could easily be ingested into the lungs. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen. In other words: If you’re looking to e-cigarettes as a way to avoid lung cancer, think again.
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