Many people have made the transition from smoking cigarettes to using e-cigarettes or another vaping device. While e-cigarettes are viewed as a safer alternative to cigarettes, they are not entirely safe either.
An E-cigarette is an interchangeable term with “vapes” or “vaping devices”. The e-cigarette heats up liquid that is often contained in a pod that can be refilled to a temperature where it can atomize, creating vapour that is inhaled into the lungs.
This vapour contains either nicotine or THC – the active ingredient in marijuana- as well as many chemicals that can become toxic when vapourised, such as 2,3-pentanedione, formaldehyde, and diacetyl, a flavouring chemical. Many of these substances have been linked to lung diseases such as popcorn lung or sudden lung injury like spontaneous lung collapse. The vapour is believed to be able to cause second-hand damage, but research is ongoing.
E-cigarettes are marketed as healthier than traditional cigarettes because of the lack of tar and tobacco smoke, both components of traditional cigarettes that are known to cause cancer. However, the verdict is still out on whether or not e-cigarettes are actually healthier.
Due to the short amount of time a large amount of the population has been using e-cigarettes, it’s impossible to say yet if the chemicals in e-cigarette vapour are cancer-causing in humans. Some of the side effects seen over the last few years, such as popcorn lung and vaping-associated lung collapse, are uniquely harmful side effects of e-cigarettes.
There is currently no scientific evidence to support a link between e-cigarette use and lung cancer. However, the scientific community has raised a great deal of concern about the prevalence of e-cigarette use and the potential for cancer. As reason for their concern, research scientists and medical doctors cite the agents in e-cigarette vapour that are known carcinogens, the amount of time it takes to collect enough evidence to demonstrate a link between cancer cases deaths and a single factor, such as e-cigarette use, and the lack of FDA regulations on what e-cigarette companies are putting in their products.
While a lot of studies have been conducted on the usefulness of e-cigarettes as a tool to stop smoking, the current data is divided on whether or not e-cigarettes are a good tool for smoking cessation. Some evidence demonstrates a link between use of e-cigarettes and stopping use of traditional cigarettes.
However, given the harmful nature of some of the chemicals in e-cigarettes, it’s important to remember that smoking e-cigarettes instead of traditional cigarettes is not the end goal – stopping use of smoking devices altogether is. There are safe and effective ways to stop smoking traditional and e-cigarettes.
While there is no conclusive data on a link between e-cigarettes and cancer, early research and patient case studies show a strong link between e-cigarettes and lung disease. Additionally, research has shown cells grown in a lab dying as a result of exposure to the chemicals in e-cigarettes. Research has also shown mice developing cancer after exposure to the chemicals in e-cigarettes.
The long-term effects of e-cigarettes in humans cannot be based on studies in mice and it will likely be 15-20 years before society begins to see any long-term effects of e-cigarette use in humans. In this time, research scientists and medical doctors suggest proceeding with an abundance of caution and stopping use of e-cigarettes while their long-term effects are still unknown.