The composition of e-cigarettes, disposable vapes, and e-liquids remains uncertain due to the vast array of products, flavors, and ingredient interactions. Labeling inadequacies and varying heating effects further complicate this issue.
While analytical chemistry sheds some light, health implications are intricate. E-cigarette risks depend on factors like device, flavors, and usage patterns, making health impacts uncertain for vapers.
What do we know?
Labs find commonalities like nicotine, flavoring chemicals, and carriers like propylene glycol and glycerine.
Concerningly, harmful elements like volatile organic compounds, particulates, and carcinogens are present, likely due to contamination.
Odd chemicals like 2-chlorophenol, harmful if inhaled, were found in half of the e-liquids, possibly from manufacturing contamination.
Polonium-210, found in tobacco due to soil absorption, might exist in e-cigs if glycerine comes from similar sources.
Materials in e-cigs like arsenic, lead, and nickel end up in users’ bodies and can be carcinogenic.
The heating process changes e-liquid composition, producing toxins like formaldehyde and acrolein.
Different studies show varying levels of these chemicals, leading to debates about e-cig safety compared to tobacco.
However, non-smokers inhaling “fresh” air face fewer toxins than e-cig users.
Labeling is problematic. Nicotine levels often differ from labels, “nicotine-free” products contain nicotine and generic flavors hide complex chemical mixes.
Flavoring chemicals, safe for eating, pose different risks when inhaled, like benzaldehyde impairing lung cells’ immune function.
More data needs on heated flavor chemical inhalation, ingredient interactions, and contaminants in e-liquids.
Understanding real-world e-cig use is vital for quantifying health risks.
