E-Cigarettes "Potentially as Harmful as Tobacco Cigarettes"

While vaping is considered by many to be less toxic than tobacco cigarettes, new research insists that they are actually just as harmful. Results gathered from a new testing device have shown that both the vapors and nicotine-based liquid in e-cigs may result in similar levels of DNA damage. The device, which is 3-D printed, is reportedly the first of its kind capable of quickly detecting such “genotoxicity.”



A study by chemists at the University of Connecticut offers new evidence that electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are potentially as harmful as tobacco cigarettes. Using a new low-cost, 3-D printed testing device, UConn researchers found that e-cigarettes loaded with a nicotine-based liquid are potentially as harmful as unfiltered cigarettes when it comes to causing DNA damage. The researchers also found that vapor from non-nicotine e-cigarettes caused as much DNA damage as filtered cigarettes, possibly due to the many chemical additives present in e-cigarette vapors. Cellular mutations caused by DNA damage can lead to cancer.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – E-Cigarettes “Potentially as Harmful as Tobacco Cigarettes”