Study finds e-cig threat

One in 4 middle school and high school students report that they have been exposed to secondhand smoke from e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, according to a new study by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The finding, published in JAMA Pediatrics, translates to about 6.5 million youths exposed. Some of the students had smoked e-cigarettes themselves during that time, but 4.4 million were not users. More than 1 million were exposed to secondhand smoke only from e-cigarettes, the study concluded.

The U.S. surgeon general reported in December that exposure to secondhand aerosol from electronic cigarettes is harmful because of the possible toxic substances they contain, such as nicotine and heavy metals. Nicotine exposure can be particularly dangerous because it can affect adolescent brain development.

The CDC study drew on data from the 2015 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

E-cigarette use among young people is a growing concern in the United States, with the surgeon general finding a 900 percent increase among high school students from 2011 to 2015. That jump makes e-cigarettes the most commonly used form of tobacco among children and adolescents in the United States, surpassing cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and other conventional products.