21 Sep Voltage and Flavoring Contribute To Overall Toxicity of Aerosols from E-Cigarettes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Maciej L. Goniewicz
Maciej L. Goniewicz, PhD PharmD
Assistant Professor of Oncology
Department of Health Behavior
Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Elm & Carlton Streets / Carlton House A320
Buffalo, New York 14263, USA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We have previously identified several ingredients in e-cigarettes that may be potentially dangerous to users. The long-health effects of inhaling aerosol from e-cigarettes is currently unknown and we are looking for alternative ways to test the products safety. We have noticed previously that various brands and types of e-cigarettes differ in the toxicant levels and their potential toxic effects. So we systematically evaluated various product features and we were able to identify device power and flavoring additives as key components that significantly affect the potential toxicity of e-cigarettes. Interestingly, it was not nicotine or nicotine solvents but other additives in e-cigarettes that affected respiratory cells used in our study.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: I believe smokers who switched to e-cigarettes will see another proofed that e-cigarettes are safer products as compared to tobacco cigarettes so they should never consider switching back to tobacco cigarettes.
On the other hand, our findings raised some concerns about the safety of additives used in a e-cigarettes. If e-cigarette user experiences any side effects from vaping, for example cough or chest pain, he or she should consider changing the flavorings in the product and operating their device in lower-power settings.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: As discussed in our paper, the study indicates that e-cigarette aerosol and liquids used in the devices are complex mixtures, and certain product features (eg, voltage and flavorings) contribute to overall toxicity of aerosol.
In our study we used laboratory experiments to estimate the toxic effect. Thus, our study did not aim to estimate any harmful effects in e-cigarette users. Future in vivo studies are needed to confirm the applicability of our findings to human behaviors since exposure to flavored e-cigarette aerosol among most vapers would be different than puffing protocol employed in our study.
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.
More Medical Research Interviews on MedicalResearch.com
[wysija_form id=”5″]
Last Updated on September 21, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD