Almost 100 teens from the San Francisco Bay area were examined in the University of California-San Francisco study: 67 teens used e-cigarettes only, 16 used both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes and 20 didn’t smoke or vape at all.
Urine and salivary gland testing looked for breakdown products of toxic chemicals that have been associated with cancer — and found them in both smokers and vapers — but not those who didn’t smoke at all.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images FILEA variety of electronic cigarette flavors are displayed for sale at an electronic cigarette store, June 10, 2013, in New York City.
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Those who smoked cigarettes and used e-cigarettes had urine samples that indicated a higher presence of benzene, ethylene oxide, acrylonitrile, acrolein and acrylamide (all associated with higher risks of cancer). Levels were three times as high as those who used just e-cigarettes.
In turn, the “e-cigarette only” group had three times more evidence of the presence of acrylonitrile, acrolein, propylene oxide, acrylamide, and crotonaldehyde as non-users. Those chemicals, as well, are associated with a higher cancer risk.
The researchers write, “The presence of harmful ingredients in e-cigarette vapor has been established; we can now say that these chemicals are found in the body of human adolescents who use these products.”
STOCK PHOTO/Getty ImagesA cigarette and an e-cigarettes are displayed in this undated stock photo.
Apparently, the “flavor” of the e-cigarette cartridge matters. Among e-cigarette-users, the levels of acrylonitrile were higher in those who preferred fruit flavors — compared to candy, tobacco or menthol flavors.
This is significant because 55 percent of e-cigarette users — and 67 percent of those who smoked and used e-cigs — preferred fruit flavors.
The study did not go on to see if any of these teens developed cancer.
This is the first study to assess the chemicals in e-cigarettes among adolescent use, highlighting the need to warn teenagers that there is not much known about the possible negative health risks associated with e-cigarettes.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
