E-cigarette contains toxic metals

Significant amounts of toxic metals, including lead, leak from some e-cigarette heating coils 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, 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 nickel.

Chronic inhalation of these metals has been linked to lung, liver, immune, cardiovascular and brain damage, and even cancers. E-cigarettes typically use a battery-supplied electric current that passes through a metal coil to heat nicotine-containing "e-liquids," creating an aerosol-a mix including vaporized e-liquid and tiny liquid droplets.

Vaping is popular in part because it provides the nicotine "hit" and the look and feel of tobacco-smoking but without smoking's extreme health risks. Evidence that vaping isn't entirely safe continues to accumulate. Recent studies have found that e-cigarette liquids contain flavorings and other chemicals that harm cells in standard toxicology tests.

Of the metals significantly present in the aerosols, lead, chromium, nickel and manganese were the ones of most concern, as all are toxic when inhaled. The median lead concentration in the aerosols, for example, was about 15 μg/kg, or more than 25 times greater than the median level in the refill dispensers. Almost 50 percent of aerosol samples had lead concentrations higher than health-based limits defined by the Environmental Protection Agency. Similarly, median aerosol concentrations of nickel, chromium and manganese approached or exceeded safe limits.

E-cigarette heating coils typically are made of nickel, chromium and a few other elements, making them the most obvious sources of metal contamination. Aerosol metal concentrations tended to be higher for e-cigarettes with more frequently changed coils-suggesting that fresher coils give off metals more readily.
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Vapers are vulnerable to pneumonia

The vapor from e-cigarettes seems to help pneumonia-causing bacteria stick to the cells that line the airways. The study included experiments with cells mice and humans. It showed that e-cigarette vapor had an effect similar to the reported effects of traditional cigarette smoke or particulate matter from fossil-fuel pollution, both of which are known to increase susceptibility to lung infection with pneumococcal bacteria.

Lead researcher, Jonathan Grigg, Professor of Paediatric Respiratory and Environmental Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said the study indicates that vaping, especially in the long term, could raise the risk of bacterial lung infection. Pneumococcal bacteria can exist in human airways without causing illness. However, in some cases, they can invade the lining cells causing pneumonia or septicaemia. Exposure to traditional cigarette smoke helps these bacteria stick to airway lining cells, increasing the risk of infection.

The research examined the effects of e-cigarette vapor on a molecule produced by the cells that line the airways, called platelet-activating factor receptor (PAFR). Previous research by Professor Grigg's group has shown that pneumococcal bacteria use PAFR to help them stick to airway cells, which in turn increases the ability of bacteria to invade body tissues and cause disease. Research has also shown that PAFR levels increase in response to smoking, passive smoking, pollution and welding fumes.

Researchers examined human nose lining cells in the lab. They exposed some cells to e-cigarette vapor, some containing nicotine and some without, while other cells were not exposed. Cells exposed to either nicotine-containing or nicotine-free vapor produced levels of PAFR that were three times higher. When researchers introduced pneumococcal bacteria to these cells, they found that exposure to either nicotine-containing or nicotine-free vapor doubled the amount of bacteria that stuck to airway cells.

They tested the effect of e-cigarette vapor in mice and found that inhaled exposure to e-cigarette vapor also increased levels of PAFR on airway lining cells and increased the number of pneumococcal bacteria in the respiratory tract after infection, making mice more susceptible to disease. The team studied PAFR levels in cells lining the nose of 17 people. Of these, ten were regular users of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, one used nicotine-free e-cigarettes, and six were not vapers.

First, PAFR levels in the airways of all 17 volunteers were measured. Then, vapers were asked to take at least ten puffs on their e-cigarettes over five minutes. One hour after vaping, PAFR levels on airway cells increased three-fold. The result shows that vaping makes the airways more vulnerable to bacteria sticking to airway lining cells. If this occurs when a vaper gets exposed to the pneumococcal bacterium, this could increase the risk of infection.
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E-cigarettes flavours are toxic

Sugar and spice are not healthy when it comes to vaping or inhalation. Exposure to e-cigarette flavoring chemicals and liquids can cause significant inflammation to monocytes, a type of white blood cell and many flavoring compounds are also toxic, with cinnamon, vanilla and buttery flavors among the worst. That's the finding of new research published in open-access journal
Frontiers in Physiology, which also found that mixing e-cigarette flavors has a much worse effect than exposure to just one.

The use of e-cigarettes has exploded in the past decade as traditional cigarette consumption has declined. Vaping exposes the lungs to flavoring chemicals when the e-liquids are heated and inhaled. Since the flavoring chemicals are considered safe to eat, e-cigarettes are often considered and advertised as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes.

This new study, led by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in the United States, wanted to test the assumption that vaping nicotine-free flavored e-liquids is safer than smoking conventional cigarettes. Previous studies show that flavors used in e-cigarettes cause inflammatory and oxidative stress responses in lung cells.

Users of e-cigarettes also show increased levels oxidative stress markers in the blood compared to non-smokers. The new study extends this to assess the effects of commonly used flavoring chemicals, as well as e-liquids without nicotine, directly on immune cells-a type of white blood cell called monocytes.

Exposure to the e-cigarette flavoring chemicals and e-liquids led to higher production of two well-established biomarkers for inflammation and tissue damage mediated by oxidative stress. Furthermore, many of the flavoring chemicals caused significant cell death with some flavors being more toxic than others.
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Vaping can cause birth defects

Vaping while pregnant could cause babies to be born with disfiguring birth defects to their faces and heads. Exposure to e-cigarette vapor damaged cells that would eventually become facial features in ways that could cause facial clefts and uneven growth of facial structures. The Centers for Disease  Control and Prevention CDC and doctors already recommend that no form of smoking – including vaping – is safe for pregnant women.

As many as 19.4 percent of young adults thought that e-cigarettes caused ‘no harm,’ according to CDC data collected between 2013 and 2014. More than half of the same age group believed that they were only ‘moderately harmful.’ Studies have shown that e-cigarette vapor does have fewer toxins, but the products are so new that their effects aren’t fully understood.

They discovered that the mixture of liquids to create the novel flavors of e-cigarette vapor were responsible for the worst damage to the developing fetus. Most flavors led to only minor effects, like slightly smaller than normal faces. But one unnamed flavor in particular consistently caused the most damage. All of the frogs exposed to that flavor had significant facial clefts.

E-cigarettes use a heating mechanism to heat e-liquids and convert them into flavored vapor. The liquids contain nicotine, as well as propylene, glycol, vegetable glycerine and flavoring compounds. The ingredients used to make the various flavors are a bit of a mystery. Researchers  analyzed 159 varieties of flavored vape liquids, and found that more than two thirds used a compound called diacetyl, which is linked to a popcorn lung.

Previous research linked flavoring in e-liquids to heart defects in developing zebrafish, brain development delays in mice, and the release of at least two carcinogens. The researchers tested six different e-liquids, with nicotine strengths varying from six mg/ml to 24 and one or more flavoring additives. Two varieties had only one flavor each: red tobacco and menthol. They also tested a liquid flavored with both milk and dark chocolate, and one with melon and candy.

The most dramatic defects were tied to the two liquids with the greatest number of different flavors. One used strawberry, almond, caramel, vanilla, biscuit and Vienna cream flavorings, and the other had cereal, berries, cream and citrus. Both of the many-flavored varieties led to dramatically cleft faces or other facial birth defects in the frogs they were tested on.

Facial and mouth clefts are gaps in the middle of the face that can affect both soft muscle and skin tissue and bones. They are rare in humans, effecting only about 1 in every 150,000 babies born worldwide. Depending on how severe the cleft is, they may be reparable with surgery, but if left untreated can also make it difficult for people with cleft faces and palates to eat, make them prone to ear infections and hearing loss, speech and language impairments and dental problems.
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