Toxic reality of trendy 'harmless' e-cigarettes 

Supposedly ‘95 per cent safer than smoking’, promoted as a shortcut to quitting and offered in an array of flavours (bubblegum or cola, anyone?), it’s no surprise vaping — smoking e-cigarettes — is now a popular alternative to lighting up.

These hand-held, battery-operated devices simulate smoking a cigarette by heating a liquid (in a refillable tank or sealed pod). This generates a nicotine vapour, which is then inhaled.

Some three million people in the UK now vape, according to 2017 figures — up from 700,000 five years before. Many feel it is better for them and those around them, without the smell of smoke.

Perhaps most disturbing of all, cigarette companies are investing billions in vaping. If e-cigarettes truly helped people quit smoking, it would be a financial disaster for the tobacco industry [File photo]

Perhaps most disturbing of all, cigarette companies are investing billions in vaping. If e-cigarettes truly helped people quit smoking, it would be a financial disaster for the tobacco industry [File photo]

However, as a professor of clinical epidemiology who has spent 30 years promoting health, I am disturbed by the uncritical support for vaping from Public Health England, part of the Department of Health.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, recently said she finds having to breathe ‘white clouds’ of e-cig vapour offensive and that vaping should only be allowed at home — but her view is not mirrored by our authorities.

Yet there’s increasing evidence that vaping may damage the lungs, heart or brain. Researchers at the University of Birmingham recently linked the habit with chronic respiratory diseases, such as bronchitis, while scientists at Stanford University in the U.S. found e-cigs’ flavourings damage the cells lining our blood vessels.

This could lead to high blood pressure, heart disease or stroke.

Once heated, the substances in the vapour break down into toxic chemicals such as acetaldehyde.

These hand-held, battery-operated devices simulate smoking a cigarette by heating a liquid (in a refillable tank or sealed pod). This generates a nicotine vapour, which is then inhaled [File photo]

These hand-held, battery-operated devices simulate smoking a cigarette by heating a liquid (in a refillable tank or sealed pod). This generates a nicotine vapour, which is then inhaled [File photo]

A University of Nevada study found that significant amounts of cancer-causing chemicals, including formaldehyde, were absorbed by the lungs in a typical vaping session. Meanwhile, research from the European Lung Foundation suggests smoking e-cigarettes with nicotine can cause arteries to stiffen in a similar way to tobacco.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now warning that nicotine-induced seizures could be a side-effect, with at least 35 reports of it.

In Canada, vaping is

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