Study finds that flavored electronic cigarettes can kill lung cells

by RNZ

A new Australian study released this morning indicates that flavored electronic cigarettes can kill lung cells.

The principal investigator of the study, Miranda Ween from the Faculty of Medicine at Adelaide University, told RNZ that the study was looking to determine if the same taste (apple used to research) purchased from different suppliers could have different effects.

"What we discovered was that each of the flavors actually contained very different chemicals and that they were all able to kill the airway cells and affect even immune cells. when there was no nicotine. "

Some damage to lung cells can be repaired by the body, but it also introduces the possibility of errors in the repair process, Ween said.

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The research was a first step and the next step for his team would be to isolate the chemicals that are causing the damage.

In light of available research, governments will be interested in regulation, she said.

The United States – where several people have died as a result of a vaping – are considering limiting some flavors in e-cigarettes and the rest of the world will monitor what is happening and could do the same, did it? she declared.

Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, Chief Health Officer of New Zealand, said last week that the government is preparing a draft law on the regulation of vape, which would limit the flavors to tobacco, menthol and mint.

It was possible to develop safer vapes in the future, but it would take a lot of research to get there, said Ween.

Most of the vaping data, including his own, showed that vaping was probably less dangerous than smoking, but most are short-term studies, so the long-term effects are not well understood.

If former smokers smoked electronic cigarettes in the short term, they would probably be safe, but the goal was to give up altogether.

Ween said people who were trying to quit smoking should stick to traditional nicotine replacement therapies.