Using e-cigarettes increases a vaper’s risk of cancer – even if there’s NO nicotine, experts warn
E-CIGARETTES could increase your risk of cancer even when there's no trace of nicotine, experts have warned.
They said vapers need to realise they're inhaling some of the same toxic chemicals found in smoke from regular cigarettes - not just flavoured water.
Levels of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals were up to THREE times higher on average in e-cigarette users, compared with non-smokers, a team at the University of California, San Francisco discovered.
That risk level was the same for those using both e-cigs and tobacco.
The scientists looked at the effects vaping has on teenagers, and their findings are the first to find cancer-causing chemicals in the bodies of youngsters who vape.
Prof Mark Rubinstein, professor of paediatrics, said: "Teenagers need to be warned that vapour produced by e-cigarettes is not harmless water vapour, but actually contains some of the same toxic chemicals found in smoke from traditional cigarettes.
"Teenagers should be inhaling air, not products with toxins in them."
Test analysing the teens' pee and spit samples revealed traces of several chemicals linked to cancer, including acrylamide - found in chips and burned toast last year.
Prof Rubinstein said kids should never use e-cigarettes, devices designed to help people quit smoking giving the nicotine hit without exposing them to tobacco.
"E-cigarettes are marketed to adults who are trying to reduce or quit smoking as a safer alternative to cigarettes.
"While they may be beneficial to adults as a form of harm reduction, kids should not be using them at all."
He warned some of the cancer-causing chemicals were found in the bodies of teens who used flavoured e-cigarettes without nicotine.
He explained that proplyene glycol and glycerin, which are used to keep the products smoked in e-cigarettes in liquid form, are safe at room temperature.
But he added: "When they're heated to the high temperatures required for vapourisation, they can produce toxic substances that are potentially carcinogenic."
MORE ON E-CIGARETTES
The new findings come after a study last year found flavoured e-cigs could be toxic to the heart, with a chemical in the liquid posing a risk of heart damage.
Another found just one puff of an e-cigarette could increase a person's risk of heart attack.
And the devices are also linked to deadly lung disease, just like regular cigarettes.
The new findings from UCSF are published in the journal Pediatrics.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours
