Study: Lead and other toxic metals found in e-cigarette 'vapors'

[OnlinePoker]

Significant amounts of toxic metals, including lead, leak from some e-cigarette heating coils and are present in the aerosols inhaled by users, according to a study from scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In the study, published online in Environmental Health Perspectives on February 21, the scientists examined e-cigarette devices owned by a sample of 56 users. They found that significant numbers of the devices generated aerosols with potentially unsafe levels of lead, chromium, manganese and/or nickel. Chronic inhalation of these metals has been linked to lung, liver, immune, cardiovascular and brain damage, and even cancers.

The Food and Drug Administration has the authority to regulate e-cigarettes but is still considering how to do so. The finding that e-cigarettes expose users--known as vapers--to what may be harmful levels of toxic metals could make this issue a focus of future FDA rules.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/jhub-sla022118.php

[HopeAgain]

1. Is anyone surprised by this?

If something is not regulated, this is what happens. I have been telling people for years they don’t know what is in those things and they probably are not safe.

[ret5hd]

2. Most e-cig users, like my spouse and me,...

don't pretend they are "safe".

We are satisfied with "safer".

[angstlessk]

3. I agree, I was up to as many cigs as I could smoke while awake

AND wished each cig was as long a Pinocchio's nose!

Now I puff my ecig...reducing the the amount of nicotine over time, (which I could NOT do with cigs) till I then know it's an oral problem, not a smoking problem.

I am down to 12 mg nicotine from the max of 32..or was it 33? Anyway, not smoking more or less with the lowered amount.

Then I can either quit or search for safer oral fixes!

[Mosby]

6. there is a prescription inhaler called nicotrol

I used it to stop smoking. Unlike other NRTs, this delivers the nicotine when you need it. It does not use heat.

I followed the European/Australian guidelines that allows you to cut back slowly. I was a two pack a day smoker, the first day I started with the inhalers I only smoked 11 cigs. Then I slowly tapered myself down from there. I used them for more than six months, I haven't smoked a cigarette for almost 10 years.


https://www.nicotrol.com/inhaler

[angstlessk]

7. Looks interesting...why have I never heard of this???

Is it available in the US of A?

[earthshine]

11. I successfully quit a 30-year tobacco habit using e-cigs.

The nic addiction is only two-three days of withdrawal. It's changing your habits and thoughts that is the difficult part. The mind will play it's tricks for years to come.

It's harder to train oneself to have a cup of coffee without a cig, or to finish the dinner without one, than it is to get over the nic.

Also, for a 9-5 office worker, the notion of the cig break is laden with connotation unrelated to smoking.

No-nic e-cigs are the perfect thing to have on hand until your subconscious mind decides it's done with smoking.

Every few weeks or so, I still have an e-cig. It's like a piece of candy, now. A treat that is not addictive.

Quitting cigs has improved my life in so many ways.

Best of luck to you!!!

[angstlessk]

30. I'm still working on lowering my nic levels..I'm at 12%

Next will be 2% then 0% I will find out if the habit is just oral fetish then!

Then I can deal with that problem.

[pnwmom]

25. And that's fine, because they probably are -- just as long as you are fine with not vaping

in public spaces, where other people would be exposed.

[angstlessk]

4. You think cigarettes are safer?

I don't cough all night, which used to keep me awake...ecigs are FAR better than real cigs...from one who has experienced both.

[HopeAgain]

10. Of course not, but nicotine gum is

Or patches are.

I quit 8 smoking years ago. Cold turkey. One the hardest and smartest things I ever did.

[angstlessk]

14. Good for you..I did the gum and patches...

very expensive and useless for me..

You claim to be a saint and the rest of us sinners cause we didn't go cold turkey...

IF your addiction is based on the oral addiction gum nor patches work.

And I bet 50+ are about oral satisfaction.

[Skittles]

31. HopeAgain never claimed to be a saint

you are WAY too defensive

[angstlessk]

33. I am allowed my own perspective

You seem to be the defensive one?

[Skittles]

36. LOL

thereby proving my point

OVER AND OUT

[HopeAgain]

32. I did not mean to offend you

I am sorry if I did. I said quitting was one of the hardest things I did.

But these vapor machines and some of the liquids are made in places like China. There is no way to know what is in them because they have been completely unregulated. I just think they could be worse than cigarettes, especially if they are finding heavy metals in them. I'm glad they are finally going to regulate them, but who knows what has passed for vape in the meantime?

[angstlessk]

34. I do not object that they require standards

but if there are regulations, they will become tobacco companies owners.

I prefer small companies to dispense their own brands...not tobacco companies poisoning everybody based on political contributions

[Ms. Toad]

5. Likely lots of folks on DU

I remember some pretty knock-down, drag-out fights about (1) they're harmless and (2) they will always be limited to small boutique marketing.

The discussions were in connection with the push to regulate marketing in the same way cigarette marketing was regulated in order to prevent grooming another generation of people addicted to nicotine. I was poo-poohed, patted on the head, and told I didn't know what I was talking about . . . as the tobacco giants moved in and started marketing kiddie flavors.

ETA: I'm all in favor of ecigs as an alternative to regular cigarettes, especially in terms of their pretty remarkable ability to wean people away from regular cigarettes. My concern was enticing a new generation to e-smoking via advertising campaigns similar to the campaigns that glamorized smoking regular cigarettes.

[angstlessk]

8. I agree whole hartetly...but I have never seen any romance regarding ecigs

And I thought they were supposed to stop actors from smoking cigs?

Maybe I'm out of the loop?

[earthshine]

13. I live in Asheville, NC. I am currently visiting in southern FL.

Here (but not at home) I've seen a number of 20-ish people (all women) using these big vape things when out and about.

It's something the size of a small bottle, and it visibly delivers a lot more vapor than an e-cig. (Huge clouds!)

I guess it's the equivalent of an e-cigar. Maybe an e-bong.

It looks stupid and highly inconvenient. (Probably, about as stupid as seeing people with actual cigs.)

Peace.

[angstlessk]

15. I don't suppose the youth want to mimic that?

[OnlinePoker]

16. According to a 2015 CDC report, vaping use is now higher than tobacco amongst adolescents

E-cigarette use among middle school and high school students tripled in one year, reported the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. The new data shows that e-cigarette use has surpassed the use of all tobacco products, including regular cigarettes, among young people.

The data, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, shows that e-cigarette use among high schoolers increased from 4.5% in 2013 to 13.4% in 2014. That’s a rise from about 660,000 students to 2 million, the CDC says. Use among middle schoolers rose from 1.1% to 3.9% in the same time period.

http://time.com/3825218/ecig-teens/

[angstlessk]

18. Well better than smoking cigs

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These cigarette ingredients include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT.

[OnlinePoker]

20. Not vaping or smoking cigarettes at all should be the goal

Instead, they market vaping as a safe choice and sell flavored oils to get the kids hooked even though they produce toxic vapor. You want to vape, that's fine, but stop making it only about what's in cigarettes while you ignore the health risks posed by vaping. I personally wouldn't want to be sucking in lead or other heavy metals every time I sucked on one of these.

[angstlessk]

21. Hell there is a plethora of vices one should not imbibe in

probably gambling?

[OnlinePoker]

22. Don't worry...the Republicans blocked that. n/t

[angstlessk]

24. That would be 'on line' gambleing

takes away from the vegas contributors.

[angstlessk]

35. North Carolina...home of tobacco

[Ms. Toad]

37. The discussions were around 2012-2014, I believe.

The big tobacco companies were just starting to enter the market - and the FDA was just considering whether to regulate advertising for ecigs.

The 2012 Surgeon General's Report on preventing adolescent tobacco use concluded that youth exposure to tobacco cigarette advertising causes youth smoking.[14] As noted above, e-cigarette advertising uses the same appeals that cigarette companies have used to entice kids into a lifelong addiction to cigarettes.[15],[16],[17] These include:

widespread marketing of fruit, candy, mint and even alcohol flavors (Figure 1)
romantic or sexual imagery (Figure 2)
celebrity endorsements (Figure 3)
event sponsorships (Figure 4)
social media (Figure 5)

https://tobacco.ucsf.edu/fda-should-restrict-e-cigarette-marketing-protect-youth-part-currently-proposed-regulation

There was a lot of push-back from DU members who insisted that big tobacco would never seriously be involved, and certainly would never glamorize it to create a new (addicted) set of consumers.

[pnwmom]

26. The other issue is second-hand smoking. Some vaping proponents felt that smoking bans

in public places shouldn't apply to them.

[angstlessk]

9. OnlinePoker talks about bad habits!

and what in the hell is eurekalert?

I don't link to strange websites.

[OnlinePoker]

12. It's the news outlet for the American Association for the Advancement of Science

EurekAlert! is an online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society.

https://www.eurekalert.org/aboutus.php

[angstlessk]

17. Has your source mentioned the toxins in actual cigarettes?

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These cigarette ingredients include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT.


http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm

[pnwmom]

27. Vaping proponents were arguing that the off gas contained nothing but water, and that they should

be allowed to vape in public places.

I don't care what they do in their own homes, where they don't affect anyone else. But no one should have to breathe those fumes at work or in public spaces.

[angstlessk]

29. I don't disagree..

Vape the same place you can smoke...

[bettyellen]

38. cigarettes are allowed most of outdoors and are worse.

[pnwmom]

39. Yeah, so? n/t

[bettyellen]

40. So prohibiting it outdoors is ridiculous.

[pnwmom]

41. Some were arguing that vaping should be allowed on planes, in airports, in malls,

in theaters, and in other public spaces.

I disagreed.

[uponit7771]

19. ALL vape devices produce these elements ?!?! This is a screwed up study claiming "significant" ...

... numbers which is too opaque to conclude all the devices produce these metals.

Also, at what level of fill does it produce these levels ?!

I don't trust big tabbaco on this

[angstlessk]

23. eggazctly...many doctors used to advertise the health effects of smoking

same ads, different docs.

[pnwmom]

28. Big tobacco is in the vaping business now. And I agree, I don't trust them either. n/t