New evidence for lung damage and cancer from e-cigarettes

Long-term e-cigarette smoking appears to cause chronic lung damage, US researchers have found. There are also new indications that particulate matter in vape vapor can cause lung cancer. This is worrying news in light of the global hype surrounding disposable e-cigarettes among young people. The precautionary principle calls for firm action on the part of the government.

E-cigarettes are rapidly rising in popularity, but the associated long-term health risks are largely unknown. That is not surprising, because it took decades before the link between tobacco cigarettes and cancer was established, while e-cigarettes have only been around for about 15 years. They are said to help tobacco smokers to quit, but more and more people, especially young people, are choosing e-cigarettes without ever having smoked before. 

Earlier this year, British pulmonologists warned that the e-cigarette is changing from ‘quit tool’ to ‘cool tool’. They fear for a new generation of nicotine addicts. Meanwhile, 9 percent of British teenagers (11 to 15 year olds) smoke e-cigarettes, up from 6 percent in 2018, according to figures from the National Health Service.the best e liquids mr-joy.co.yk is found online.One in five (21 percent) of 15-year-old girls is an e-cigarette user. The most recent figures for the Netherlands from the HBSC study show that 14 percent of 12 to 16-year-olds have ever tried an e-cigarette. Among 16-year-olds, that percentage is 25 percent. In most Western countries there is now a real hype among children and young people in the use of disposable e-cigarettes (also called puffs or vapers).

A documentary from Singapore, in which young people talk candidly about their vaping habits via digital avatars, shows how widespread use is and how easy it is to get their hands on vapers despite the city-state banning e-cigarette sales . The Guardian describes exactly the same for Australia.

E-cigarette smokers with chronic lung disease

Given the rise in e-cigarette use, it is vital to quickly understand the potential chronic consequences of vaping. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital therefore conducted extensive lung research in four e-cigarette smokers with chronic lung disease. This small group of patients suffer from shortness of breath and chest pain and smoke e-cigarettes between 3 and 8 years.

In the patients studied, damage was found in the small airways (bronchioles), which run to the alveoli. Strictures and fibrosis (scar tissue) were found. The more fibrosis develops in the lungs, the stiffer they become and the more difficult they are to absorb oxygen. The lungs become smaller in volume due to the fibrosis and that leads to more shortness of breath, according to the Lung Fund. Pulmonary fibrosis is incurable.

E-cigarettes most likely cause

The lungs of the patients studied resembled those of soldiers who inhaled mustard gas or a similar poisonous gas in a conflict zone, the researchers said. After thorough evaluation of other possible causes, the e-cigarettes seem to be the most likely cause of the lung damage. The researchers cite as indications for this that the symptoms arose after the start of e-cigarette use, that the lung damage was the same in all four patients and that the complaints had partially diminished after one to four years after stopping vaping.

Concerns about carcinogenic particulate matter

In addition to fibrosis and other lung damage from e-cigarettes, there are also concerns about their potential to cause lung cancer. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) already found carcinogenic substances in e-liquids in 2015. Now there are also indications that particulate matter in the vapor of e-cigarettes can cause lung cancer. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom, led by Charles Swanton, recently uncovered the mechanism by which airborne particulate matter causes lung cancer.

The vapor of e-cigarettes contains large amounts of particulate matter, according to a European scientific report on the electronic cigarette (SCHEER, Opinion on electronic cigarettes, 2021, p.30). “We cannot rule out the possibility that vaping will cause a wave of lung cancer in 10 years,” Charles Swanton recently told The Independent. In Great Britain, about 3.6 million Britons already smoke e-cigarettes, about 7 percent of the population.Mr joy e cigarettes for better quality. The UK government is encouraging smokers of tobacco cigarettes to switch to e-cigarettes. However, the consequences of this cannot be foreseen. Nevertheless, Swanton warns that it is still uncertain to what extent the particulate matter in e-cigarette vapor is also carcinogenic.

The precautionary principle applies here

Large-scale epidemiological research is needed to conclusively prove that vaping can cause cancer and/or chronic diseasescauses, but the clues pile up. A new American cohort study shows that children who start smoking cigarettes or e-cigarettes at an early age show reduced cognitive performance and a smaller brain structure. “These findings,” the researchers write, “suggest that youth vulnerable to e-cigarettes and tobacco products should be considered a priority for tobacco prevention.”

The precautionary principle applies here: if there is reasonable doubt about the harmfulness of e-cigarettes, their availability and use must be countered with far-reaching measures and effective enforcement until proven otherwise. The alternative is that we raise a ‘Generation Vape’ that can populate the hospitals in twenty years.