Sudhakar Jha
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Written By: Sudhakar Jha | Published : September 12, 2018 9:57 PM IST
e-cigarette vaping negatively affects skin wound healing. © Shutterstock
There have been many previous studies that have proved that, despite being considered as a safer alternative to cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes pose a lot of threat to the health.
A new pilot study from the University of Nevada, Reno has claimed that the aldehydes released by e-cigarettes get absorbed into the lungs in huge quantities, which eventually pose health risks on individuals.
Lead study author Vera Samburova, said in the study, "Until now the only research on the respiratory uptake of aldehydes during smoking has been done on conventional cigarette users. Little is known about this process for e-cigarette use and understanding the unique risks vaping poses to users is critical in determining toxicological significance."
In the study, published in the journal Toxics, the team took 12 participants who smoked e-cigarettes. To be able to quantify the level of toxic substances in their respiratory systems, the researchers developed a technique where they could check the concentration of aldehydes in their breath before and after vaping.
The team then went on to subtract the quantity of aldehydes found in the users' exhaled breath from that of the chemicals found directly in the vapours.
"Beyond that, we saw that the concentration of chemicals like formaldehyde in the breath after vaping was hundreds of times lower than what is found in the direct e-cigarette vapors, which suggests that a significant amount is being retained in the user's respiratory tract," said Dr. Samburova in the paper.
After the study was completed, the researchers found that e-cigarettes produced high levels of toxic chemicals in both day-to-day usage and in laboratory conditions.
"Our new pilot study underlines the potential health risk associated with the aldehydes generated by e-cigarettes. However, in the future, e-cigarette aldehyde exposure absolutely needs to be studied with a larger set of participants," concluded Samburova in the study.
