With one puff of an electronic cigarette, smokers could be sucking a carcinogen into their lungs.
According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, when e-cigarettes are turned up to high voltages, the liquid inside breaks down and releases formaldehyde — a known carcinogen — in its vapor.
Long-term vaping could increase a user’s cancer risk as much as 15 times, according to NEJM.
But Matthew Thomas, 24, the general manager of Emaginevapor in The Oaks Mall, said he disagrees.
“When you light up a cigarette, we all know that there’s a rough mixture of, like, 7,000 chemicals,” he said. “I can tell you that there are up to four main ingredients in this (e-cigarette) — four chemicals.”
The study's findings were inaccurate, Thomas said, because it would be almost impossible to use e-cigarettes at such a high heat, citing a Fox News talk show.
One of the lead researchers, James Pankow from Portland State University, told NBC the study does not say e-cigarettes are more harmful than traditional cigarettes because it only looked at one chemical.
Thomas said that when used at a normal voltage setting, Emaginevapor’s formaldehyde production is “completely in the safe range, where it’s releasing none, pretty much.”
Dr. Barry Hummel, a pediatrician and the communications director for the Tobacco Prevention Network of Florida, cautioned against using e-cigarettes.
The long-term consequences of the products have not been studied yet, and nobody knows if they’re safer than traditional tobacco, he said.
“It’s going to take many, many more studies," he said, "and it’s going to take many long-term studies to find out the impact of these chemicals before anybody can make a statement as to the risks associated with electronic cigarettes."
[A version of this story ran on page 5 on 1/26/2015 under the headline “Study: vapor from e-cigarettes contains harmful chemical"]
- Formaldehyde is a flammable, colorless, strong-smelling chemical used in building materials and many household products.
- Automobile tailpipes also release formaldehyde into the air.
- In 1980, studies showed that exposure to formaldehyde could cause nasal cancer in rats.
- The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies formaldehyde as a human carcinogen.
- According to the Center for Disease Control, exposure to formaldehyde can cause a sore throat, cough, scratchy eyes and nose bleeds.
Information courtesy of the National Cancer Institute and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
