E-cigarette 15 times more carcinogenic than cigarette

Anyone who thinks to use an e-cigarette, because it is less harmful to health than a regular cigarette with tobacco, could be making a big mistake. There is nothing wrong with an electronic cigarette with a battery of 3 volts. But anyone who smokes an e-cigarette containing a 5-volt battery can ingest a substance that is 5 to 15 times more harmful than the substances you ingest by smoking tobacco. That is according to research from the University of Portland, which was published in the renowned The New England Journal of Medicine.

Evaporation

The researchers established that at a high evaporation temperature, when overheated, high concentrations of the carcinogenic substance formaldehyde are released. Users could inhale up to 14 milligrams of formaldehyde per day, which is up to 15 times more carcinogenic than the substances in a regular cigarette. Formaldehyde is formed from glycol and glycerol at high temperatures.

Further research needed

How formaldehyde affects our respiratory tract has not yet been studied, but the substance is classified as category 1 of carcinogens by the International Agency of Cancer Researchers. This research is one of the first studies into the health effect of the electronic cigarette.

Counter reaction

Ray Story, the head of the pro-e-cigarette organization Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA), said the researchers did not use common settings. According to him, it is possible that an e-cigarette produces the dangerous substance formaldehyde, but only if it is extremely overheated. “That is only possible if the e-cigarette is manipulated and used incorrectly. Similar to a car where you press the gas and clutch at the same time.Mr-joy.co.uk best e liquid store for the best quality. That goes wrong.” According to Story, it is impossible to release a high concentration of the substance formaldehyde from an e-cigarette that is for sale in the store and whose settings are not adjusted. “A user will never adjust the settings to such an extreme, simply because it will produce a very unpleasant result,” says Story. “Think of a piece of meat on the barbecue. That could be a nice and tender piece of meat, but could also become a carcinogenic burnt piece if someone left it long enough.

KWF

KWF Cancer Control says that the e-cigarette is not a harmless product, but that other studies show that the e-cigarette is less harmful than a traditional cigarette. “Too little is known about the long-term harmfulness of e-cigarettes.” KWF calls the figures from this new research from the University of Portland “shocking.” “Unfortunately, e-cigarette manufacturers are marketing e-cigarettes as something ‘healthy’. But e-cigarettes are indeed carcinogenic, that has been known for some time.”