(NewsNation) — Candy flavored nicotine machines, better known as vapes, are more toxic than traditional cigarettes, a new study suggests.
Electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes or vapes, release more toxic metals, researchers at the University of California, Davis found in a study published Wednesday.
What metals are in vapes?
More than 1.6 million minors in the United States reported using a vape last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What are they inhaling into their bodies?
According to UCD researchers, one disposable e-cigarette released more lead in a day’s use than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes. They also found levels of carcinogenic nickel and antimony, “which stresses the need for urgency in enforcement,” said senior author Brett Poulin, assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology, in a press release.
The disposable vapes released higher amounts of metal than earlier, refillable vapes, the study found.
“These risks are not just worse than other e-cigarettes but worse in some cases than traditional cigarettes,” Poulin said.
The vapes contain a battery, e-liquid and heating coil. One of the researchers took one back to his lab after seeing a friend smoke one.
“When I first saw the lead concentrations, they were so high I thought our instrument was broken,” said Mark Salazar, a Ph.D. candidate in Poulin’s lab. “That sparked us into looking further into these disposables.”
Health impacts of vaping
Dr. Deena Adimoolam, an endocrinologist specialist, joined “Morning in America with Hena Doba” to discuss the health impacts of vaping.
“Many of these toxins can lead to varying health risks, but the ones that we know about can be related to some mental health changes,” she said. “We believe that lead can be associated with issues even like ADHD, things like antimony can be associated with worsening (gastrointestinal) issues like diarrhea, stomach pain, abdominal pain and there’s many more.”
Experts have said the vape market is expanding faster than research can be done to know the long-term health effects.