Tobacco companies
readily declare that a hip-looking 20-something puffing away on a
sweet-flavored, smokeless "e-cigarette" is a health-savvy smoker who
is avoiding the dangers of tobacco cigarettes while enjoying the smoking
experience.
Electronic
cigarettes, on the market in the U.S. for about five years, provide nicotine
from a heated and vaporized fluid, doing away with the harmful byproducts of
burned tobacco.
But the health
risks from e-cigarettes remain largely unknown. Research is scant, and the new
products' safety is far from certain. UC Riverside cell biologist Prue Talbot
has found that some fluids used to refill e-cigarettes are toxic to cells.
Her lab also
found that the performance of different smoking devices varied significantly
and often required stronger puffs to activate than conventional cigarettes.
This potentially could draw harmful chemicals deeper into the lungs.
Studying
chemicals for health risks
Talbot now leads
a major study of the chemicals contained in new versions of the e-cigarettes,
and their health risks. The early research and the new studies are funded by
the UC Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program.
The research
demonstrates the need for a better understanding of these products, she said.
"Our earlier
studies with electronic cigarette refill fluids showed that some of these products
were toxic to both mouse neural stem cells, [and] human embryonic stem cells as
well as to adult lung cells," she said. And at least some e-cigarette
components may threaten developing fetuses in mothers, as regular tobacco
cigarettes do, and also may damage lung tissue.
In a second round
of studies, Talbot's team has dissected "cartomizers" — devices used
in newer versions of e-cigarettes that combine both the flavored fluid and the
battery-powered heater in a single unit. The researchers have found that when
heated, the aerosol from one brand of cartomizer-style cigarette contained 21
elements, including a number of metals and metal nanoparticles. One metal, tin,
appeared to be released from solder joints in the cartomizers.
"We need to
know more about the full range of chemicals delivered by e-cigarettes, as well
as their concentrations and their long-term effects on health," Talbot
said. This would provide a solid basis for FDA regulations of e-cigarettes that
both electronic cigarette companies and e-cigarette users probably would find
beneficial.
Flavored smokes
appeal to youth
Promoted as a
safe alternative to tobacco products or as a way to taper off of a regular
smoking habit, e-cigarettes are being aggressively marketed toward young
people, said Pamela Ling, a UCSF associate
professor of
medicine who has conducted research supported by UC's Tobacco-Related Disease
Research Program.
Fruit, candy and
alcohol-flavored tobacco cigarettes are banned, Ling said. The only flavor
exception is mentholated cigarettes. In contrast, e-cigarettes are offered in
hundreds of flavors.
"They are
being offered in fruit and candy flavors, and even tobacco-flavored products
are given odd names like ‘bombshell,' which evokes a feminine image," said
Ling, who studies the marketing of tobacco products to vulnerable groups.
"Earlier studies of cigarette marketing showed that flavored cigarettes
have their greatest appeal to young people."
Even though
tobacco companies cannot promote conventional tobacco cigarettes on television,
she says, we now are seeing TV ads for e-cigarettes. The TV and Internet images
may subliminally promote tobacco cigarettes.
"If you look
at the ads showing people smoking e-cigarettes, they look very much like they
are smoking conventional cigarettes," Ling said.
"While there
have been no studies specifically on the e-cigarette commercials, this type of
advertising should not be allowed, because the 2012 Surgeon General concluded
that advertising causes kids to smoke, and that exposure to smoking in movies
causes kids to start smoking."
Ling says that
research is "desperately needed" to determine if the vaporized fluid
and other components of e-cigarettes pose health risks, since they already are
being aggressively marketed as safe. In addition, e-cigarette manufacturers and
advocates are flooding the FDA with comments on the safety of e-cigarettes
"with little research to back up their claims."
Meanwhile, in
Talbot's lab, her team is carrying out studies on various brands and models of
e-cigarettes to determine what concentration of cartridge fluid and aerosol are
harmful to cultured cells. They also use analytical chemistry to identify and
measure the concentrations of chemicals in the fluids and aerosols, and
determine what concentrations are toxic to the cells.
The pioneering
research tests the toxicity in cell types that model the effects on both adult
smokers and on fetuses in pregnant women.
"We hope
that this research will help establish the safety of this new product and
protect health of young people and adults," said Talbot.
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