Marketed as a safer alternative to regular cigarettes, electronic cigarettes deliver a mixture of toxic chemicals which include carcinogens into the lungs, according to studies. According to research, using electronic cigarettes might also make bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics.
Engineers created electronic cigarettes years ago to offer users of tobacco a smoke-free nicotine source. These devices heat up a liquid which a user will inhale, or ‘vape.’ Because electronic cigarettes burn nothing, they will release no smoke.
In a May 13 review in Circulation, a team of researchers pored over emerging information on what vapers are inhaling and discovered more risk than researcher first believed. Electronic cigarettes deliver increased levels of nanoparticles, scientists discovered, which has the ability to trigger inflammation and has been connected with diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and asthma (SN: 7/18/09, p. 26). According to researchers, these levels raise concerns regarding heart disease and additional chronic conditions in which inflammation is involved.
