HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Sept. 22, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Flavorings used in e-cigarettes can increase the toxicity of the vapor that users inhale, a new laboratory study done with airway cells shows.
E-cigarette vapor also becomes even more toxic if users boost their devices by increasing the battery output voltage, the researchers added.
The toxins contained in e-cigarette vapor irritate and inflame cells lining the airways, and could cause or exacerbate breathing problems in some people, said senior researcher Maciej Goniewicz. He is an assistant professor of oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y.
“Our findings raise some concerns about the safety of additives used in e-cigarettes,” Goniewicz said.
In the study, Goniewicz and his colleagues exposed airway cells to vapor generated from e-cigarettes.
The researchers evaluated e-cigs filled with different flavors, including tobacco, pina colada, menthol, coffee and strawberry. They also tested the vapor generated from different battery output voltages. Users can increase the voltage of e-cigarettes to get a bigger hit of nicotine when they inhale.
Even unflavored e-cigarette vapor contains ingredients that are harmful to cells in air passages, but adding flavors appears to increase their toxicity, Goniewicz said.
Strawberry, coffee and menthol flavors proved particularly harmful to respiratory cells, the researchers reported.
Dr. Norman Edelman, the American Lung Association’s senior scientific advisor, said the study findings are concerning.
“That’s a big issue, because one of the things the American Lung Association is concerned about is the marketing of e-cigarettes to children through the use of flavors,” he said. “The stuff they’re adding to e-cigarettes to attract teenage buyers turns out to be more toxic.”
The study authors also found that the amount of power used to heat the liquid in e-cigarettes can affect toxicity.
“We actually expected this finding,” Goniewicz said. “We have previously showed that increasing voltage of an e-cigarette leads to higher temperature of the device. That may cause degradation of some ingredients in e-cigarettes and release of significant amounts of toxic compounds.”
The battery voltage issue also ties back to concerns over teenage e-cigarette users, Edelman noted.
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