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From damaging blood vessels to heavy metals, studies list harms of e-cigarettes
- According to one study, e-cigarette customers risk inhaling a chemistry lab’s value of heavy metals, with hyperlinks to most cancers and lung illness
- E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating nicotine, an addictive substance in combustible cigarettes
For those who assume that e-cigarette is a safer option when compared with traditional cigarettes, researchers worldwide have put forth enough evidence to the contrary.
In a latest study, researchers from the College of California, Riverside, discovered eleven heavy metals — include aluminum, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, nickel, silicon, tin, and zinc — within the vapors produced by six standard, tank-style e-cigarettes. The research was published in journal Scientific Studies last week.
The study argues that e-cigarette customers risk inhaling a chemistry lab’s value of heavy metals, with hyperlinks to most cancers, lung illness, and gastrointestinal problems. “The more metal parts in the e-cigarette, the more heavy metals were found in the vapors it produced,” the study said.
E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine, which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes. These include all forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), Heat Not Burn Products, e-Hookah and the like devices.
According to another study by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, published in Science Daily journal in August 2019, smoking e-cigarettes, also called vaping, has been marketed as a safe alternative to tobacco cigarettes and has risen in popularity among non-smoking adolescents. However, a single e-cigarette can be harmful to the body’s blood vessels, even when the vapour is entirely nicotine-free.
India’s Union Cabinet on 18 September approved the “Prohibition of E-cigarettes Ordinance 2019" that seeks to ban the consumption, production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes.
The government’s decision has attracted protests in several parts of the country, with protestors threatening to take legal recourse and calling for regulation of e-cigarettes instead of a complete ban.
Defending his government’s recent decision to ban e-cigarettes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the move was aimed at preventing India’s youth from succumbing to a new form of intoxication.
Speaking in the fourth edition of his radio talk show Mann Ki Baat since he returned to power in May, Modi said, addiction to e-cigarettes should not destroy a demographically young India.
“It is a myth that e-cigarettes pose no danger and like conventional cigarette, it does not spread odour as fragrant chemicals are added to it. A cigarette only causes harm and this even its seller knows. The smoker also knows this fact and so do people around. But the case of e-cigarettes is quite different,” said Modi.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has also recommended a complete ban on e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), based on currently available scientific evidence. As per the recent ICMR paper, e-cigarettes and other such devices contain not only nicotine solution, which is highly addictive, but also harmful ingredients such as flavoring agents and vaporisers.
Use of ENDS or e-cigarettes has documented adverse effects on humans, which include DNA damage; carcinogenic, cellular, molecular and immunological toxicity, respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological disorders, and adverse impact on fetal development and pregnancy, according to ICMR.
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Business NewsNewsIndiaFrom damaging blood vessels to heavy metals, studies list harms of e-cigarettes
First Published:30 Sep 2019, 01:01 PM IST
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