E-cigs CAN lead to asthma and heart disease
Official research warns of health risk
E-CIGARETTES do pose a risk to health, a major review of their safety has found.
Vaping can worsen heart disease and lung disorders while the risks posed by inhaling ingredients used to flavour them are still ‘unknown’, according to the Governmentbacked research.
The research said e-cigarettes should only be used as an aid to quit smoking, and warned that users who do not already smoke tobacco ‘risk negative effects on their health’ by vaping.
Health threats to bystanders were considered low – but they can suffer an increased heart rate from high nicotine exposure if they stand near someone vaping, said the report by the Independent Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT).
Professor Alan Boobis, chair of the COT, said it was wrong to consider the devices ‘harmless’.
He said: ‘Our assessment on ecigarettes largely reinforces the scientific consensus to date on their relative safety – that, while not without risk, they are significantly less harmful than smoking.’
He added that ‘e-cigarette users might experience similar types of effects on their health’ such as coronary or respiratory diseases.
The report was ordered by the Department of Health to assess the potential risks of vapes. Many health experts view them as a crucial tool in the fight against tobacco, leading Public Health
England to repeatedly endorse the devices. But others are concerned about unresolved safety concerns and their use by young people in particular.
Around 3.6million adults in Britain
have used e-cigarettes in the decade or so they have been available on the market.
More than one in ten ex-smokers in Britain vape – and the number of young people who use the devices is rising, according to latest estimates. Switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes will probably reduce some health risks more than others, the research found.
For example, the chance of developing lung cancer is likely to be reduced more than the risk of asthma symptoms.
But the report warned future health implications are still unclear due to a lack of information following long-term use.
Dr Nicholas Hopkinson, reader of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London, said further work was needed to identify any toxic components in e-cigarette vapour to ‘minimise the remaining risk as far as possible’.
Health officials said they would still recommend the devices as aids to quit smoking, but that they would stay under review.
‘Similar effects on health’