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(Reuters Health) – A new study suggests that exposure to second-hand chemicals emitted by electronic cigarettes is increasing in middle school and high school students.
A survey of tens of thousands of US teenagers found that e-cigarette exposure to used aerosols rose from one in four in 2015 to one in three in 2018, JAMA researchers reported. Network Open.
Other research has shown that secondary exposure to electronic cigarette fumes can "pose health risks to those present," said lead author Andy Tan. , assistant professor in social and behavioral sciences at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and at Harvard TH School of Public Health Chan in Boston.
"Steam contains high levels of nicotine, particulates, glycerine, propylene glycol, formaldehyde, polycyclic aromatic carbons and heavy metals," Tan said. "These substances are known to pose health risks to vulnerable populations, including children and adolescents."
For example, said Tan, a recent report described a Florida teenager with asthma who had a seizure after being exposed to the occasional electronic cigarette steam.
To take a closer look at the number of teens exposed to the occasional electronic cigarette steam, Tan and his colleagues turned to the National Youth Survey, which included data relating to approximately 17,000 to 20,000 schoolchildren each year between 2015 and 2018.
Survey respondents were asked about how often they inhaled the smoke of a person who smoked combustible tobacco products and how often they breathed the vapors produced by a person using an electronic cigarette at a location. public indoor or outdoor in the last 30 days.
Researchers found that self-reported exposure to electronic cigarette vapors increased from 25.2% in 2015 to 33.2% in 2018. During the same period, exposure to cigarette smoke slightly decreased, with about half of the students reporting exposure to second-hand smoke.
Tan hopes that the results will inspire regulators and parents to find ways to reduce the availability of e-cigarettes for schoolchildren. Although many laws prohibit smoking in public places, traditional cigarettes are rarely discussed, Tan said.
Worse, people often do not know when they are exposed to fumes because the production of electronic cigarettes does not have the distinct smell of tobacco smoke. Someone walking down the street might feel a puff of mango, cucumber or watermelon and not know that they were inhaling electronic cigarette aerosols, Tan said.
This study "reaffirms what we are very concerned about," said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
"It is possible that the" smoke "of electronic cigarettes is proving to be as bad as that of combustible cigarettes," he noted.
"I have a patient who has developed acute lung disease following the vaporization of another," said Galiatsatos. "Just as there are warnings about second-hand smoke from traditional cigarettes, we should also be campaigning for electronic versions."
Galiatsatos fears that the steam of the electronic cigarette is hurting people before scientific evidence about these dangers exists.
"For me, it's very scary," he said. "I love science, but there will probably be a lot of people who become addicted and get hurt before science makes up for it, we do not want to be forced to catch up with electronic cigarettes like we did it with combustible cigarettes 50 years ago. "
SOURCE: https://bit.ly/2Lh9O6e Open Network JAMA, Online August 28, 2019.
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