E-CIGARETTE VAPOUR RELEASES CANCEROUS CHEMICALS, STUDY FINDS

WASHINGTON Vapour from electronic cigarettes contains two previously undiscovered cancer-causing chemicals, according to a new study.

Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found propylene glycol, an eye and respiratory irritant, and glycerine, a skin, eye and respiratory irritant, among 29 other chemicals released in e-cigarette vapour.

Both are considered “probable carcinogens” by federal health officials. They’re used in e-cigarettes to create artificial smoke.

Decomposition of those chemicals, caused by heating them inside an e-cig, also releases toxic chemicals such as acrolein and formaldehyde, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

“Advocates of e-cigarettes say emissions are much lower than from conventional cigarettes, so you’re better off using e-cigarettes,” Hugo Destaillats, the study’s author and Berkeley Lab researcher, said in a statement.

“I would say, that may be true for certain users — for example, longtime smokers that cannot quit — but the problem is, it doesn’t mean that they’re healthy. Regular cigarettes are super unhealthy. E-cigarettes are just unhealthy,” he said.

The higher the temperature inside the vaporizer’s heating coil, the more chemicals were emitted. E-cigs with one heating coil instead of two released higher amounts of chemicals because the coil was hotter, the study found.