UP IN SMOKE
SCIENTISTS are still in the early days of figuring out the potential health hazards of vapes.
So it can be hard for e-cig users to know how much damage the habit could be doing to their health.
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But experts already know some flavours are more dangerous than others.
Some 4.3million Brits are using e-cigarettes, up from about 800,000 a decade ago, according to a recent .
And although the habit is considered safer than tobacco, scientists still do not fully understand the risks.
This week, minsters in England unveil new plans to encourage long-time smokers to switch cigarettes for vaping.
Read more on vapes
Councils in England will offer e-cigarette trades to up to a million people – nearly a fifth of smokers – to slash addiction rates.
Whether vaping is just a hobby or an alternative to smoking, here are some flavours you might want to avoid...
1. Mint
Mint, or menthol, can be easily mistaken for health because of its fresh taste.
But according to a new study, mint vapes may be one of the most dangerous flavours when it comes to lung health.
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University of Pittsburgh researchers discovered the cool flavour produces toxic microparticles which can lead to lung disease.
Lung diseases are responsible for 20 per cent of all deaths in the UK each year, according to charity .
Mint vape fans took shallower breaths and had poorer lung function than other smokers - regardless of how long they smoked cigarettes, whether they used cannabis-laced vaping products, and their age, gender, and race.
2. Creamy flavours
Almond, caramel, vanilla and biscuit all sound like harmless flavours- right?
Well, one found that babies born to mums who smoke creamy vapes are at increased risk of having facial deformities.
The US study looked for the ways vape liquids might impact human embryos by assessing how they effected tadpoles.
The experts from Virginia Commonwealth University found 70 per cent of the tadpoles exposed to cream vape flavours developed clefts.
A cleft in humans is a gap or split in the upper lip or roof of the mouth.
While it's shocking that these flavours caused tadpoles to develop clefts, we still don't know if they have the same impact on a human embryo.
3. Buttered popcorn
The dangerous side of the yummy smelling flavour were first discovered in 1990s, when staff at a US popcorn factory started complaining of coughing and wheezing symptoms.
It was discovered lung issues were due to an irreversible and deadly lung disease called , which was now often referred to as 'popcorn lung,' according to The Atlantic.
"Its cause was traced back to the chemical behind ," writer Diana Crow says, which they were breathing in all day, every day in the factory.
The dangerous chemical that buttered popcorn creates is called diacetyl, and is probably something you should try to avoid.
4. Cinnamon
While this flavour may smell and taste like a delicious, it doesn't mean that it is safe.
In fact, previous research has suggested it may be the most dangerous flavour to inhale.
Cinnamon was listed in a study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology as
And, according to , the cinnamon flavours can even impair the ability of the lungs to .
Read More on The Sun
Cinnamaldehyde, the chemical that smells and tastes like cinnamon, when heated and inhaled, according to researchers from the
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