Aerosols from electronics cigarettes contain toxic heavy metals

Electronic cigarettes are generally accepted to be a slightly healthier alternative to regular cigarettes. And the term slightly healthier is totally correct here. A new study shows that the aerosols from e-cigarettes contain potentially poisonous heavy metals.

Source: pxhere.com CC0 Public Domain

Scientists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health analyzed e-cigarette vaporizers that they borrowed from 56 everyday users and found out that many of them have been subjected to potentially dangerous levels of chrome, nickel, and lead. Their research follows up a study from 2016 during which they found increased levels of nickel and chrome in both urine and spit of the e-cigarette users. And high concentrations of these metals have been linked to several health issues in the past, including cardiovascular problems, brain problem and several kinds of cancer.

"These were median levels only. The actual levels of these metals varied greatly from sample to sample, and often were much higher than safe limits."

• Ana María Rule

The scientists concentrated on the liquids which surround the heating elements, the e-liquid in the dispenser and the aerosols created. The amounts of heavy metals in the e-liquid in the dispenser was quite okay, but the aerosols, well, those were quite the different story. Almost half the tested devices produced aerosols in which the amount of lead was higher than the limits of the Environmental Protection Agency. And the average amounts of nickel, chrome, and manganese were high as well. But at this moment, it isn’t clear how these metals are created. But the fact the levels varied from e-cigarette to e-cigarette means that it has likely something to do with the coils used in them and some e-cigarette are much more harmful than others and that some form of regulation on what materials the coils need to be made from so they don’t transfer toxic heavy metals into the aerosols needs to be created rather sooner than later.

Sources:

• https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-02/jhub-sla022118.php
• https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/EHP2175.alt_.pdf