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As e-cigarettes and the promotion of vaping products gain in importance, health professionals warn that they are not as safe as many people think.
"I think there's a general belief that if you go from smoking to smoking, your problems are solved," said Michael Glogauer, a professor at the faculty of dentistry at the University of Toronto. Toronto.
"It's a big misconception."
Over the last few months, nicotine vaping products have become legal in Canada, and last week the provincial government released the proposed changes to the legislation on vaporized products in convenience stores, which would allow businesses in the United States. display and advertise their products – a ban in seven other provinces. .
At the same time, a report published in 2017 by the Propel Center for the Impact on the Health of the Population of the University of Waterloo shows that the use of the electronic cigarette is increasing, in especially among young people.
The electronic cigarette and other vaping devices heat the liquid into an inhalable vapor that often contains nicotine. (Steven Senne / Associated Press)
"It's pretty dramatic, I think youth rates have tripled," said Rob Schwartz, executive director of Ontario's tobacco research unit.
"All the data we have seen so far in Canada show substantial increases every year."
Nevertheless, many experts believe that vapors are less harmful than cigarettes, but consumers should be aware of some important health issues.
E-liquids not regulated
When a new drug arrives in Canada, it must pass a number of tests, according to Schwartz. Electronic cigarettes are not considered a drug, so they have been left essentially unregulated since they first appeared on the market a decade ago, he said.
"If we had obtained the pre-market approval, then any device of this type, or any product of this type likely to have harmful effects on your health, should first of all be approved for use. "
The amendments made by the federal government to the Tobacco and Voke Products Act earlier this year provided a framework for the sale of vaping products, requiring, among other things, that vials be clearly identified by the hazard symbol and by clear warnings, but they did not create regulations for the manufacture of "e-juice", the liquid contained in e-cigarettes.
The only limitation is that the sale of nicotine in excess of 66 milligrams per gram is prohibited.
Vincent Abou-Jaoude, owner of Cold Turkey Juice Inc., runs retail stores and an electronic juice manufacturing facility in Burlington, Ontario.
"Anyone can just go and make e-liquid and sell it, which is terrible," he said.
"No standard operating protocol has ever been created for this type of project. It's a niche market, but it's also very new, so we do not know it. Technically, nobody knows how to make e-liquid.
In an email, a spokesperson for Health Canada said, "The ministry is conducting research and reviewing available studies to better understand the health effects of vaping products."
Unknown effects of chemicals
Abu-Jaoude explained that his electronic juices are usually composed of vegetable glycerin, artificial flavors, nicotine and propylene glycol, a common food additive to the flavors. The health risks of inhaling it are unknown.
Abu-Jaoude said that they were trying to track information on the "safe" quantities of each component to add, but he was particularly skeptical about the artificial flavor.
According to Rob Schwartz, executive director of Ontario's Tobacco Research Unit, electronic juice now exists in more than 7,000 flavors. (Dondi Tawatao / Getty)
"We do not really know what are the long-term effects of inhaling artificial flavors," he said.
Dr. José Lança, assistant professor specializing in pharmacology at the University of Toronto, said that people who ingested vape "ingest or inhale other chemicals, including hydrocarbons," which can cause cancer several times.
"They [hydrocarbons] are very similar, some are exactly the same, as in cigarettes, "he said.
Nicotine in many electronic cigarettes creates many oral health problems identical to those of ordinary cigarettes, according to Glogauer.
"What causes it, is that the blood vessels of the tissues contract and less blood gets to the tissues," he said.
The process causes a gingival recession, bad breath and increases the grinding of teeth, he said, and the heat released by tobacco causes a dry mouth.
Glogauer said that nicotine also reduces the typical inflammation and discoloration caused by smoking, which can mask the presence of gum disease.
The amount of nicotine in a given electronic juice may vary, but Mr. Glogauer added that there are also noxious chemicals in the liquid juice smoke, absent from cigarette smoke.
"So, diethylene glycol, we do not really know what it's doing and it's bad," he said. "It's scary for us clinicians.
And menthol in electronic juices, said Glogauer, can result in the breakdown of skin cells, the main barrier of tissue protection.
"These chemicals present could be at the root of a new set of problems that we are not aware of, and that will not become apparent in the next five or ten years," he said. declared.
"It's really these patients who act as their own guinea pig."
Health Canada stated that it was reviewing the data and testing the vaping liquids.
"Current information indicates that diethylene glycol is rarely detected in vaping liquids and, when it is found (…), it is probably a contaminant that does not occur. was not intentionally added, "the statement said.
Safer alternative
Nevertheless, many experts believe that those who can not stop smoking should use vaping as an alternative. Health Canada agrees that vaping is a nicotine source that is less harmful than smoking.
The provincial government is proposing to amend the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which would allow convenience stores to post and promote e-cigarettes. (Regis Duvignau / Reuters)
Abu-Jaoude says that he uses vaping to limit his smoking habits and believes that consumers should learn about vaping products and use them when needed.
"It's inorganic to put anything in your lungs," he said, but added that vaping could help stop the "epidemic" of tobacco-related diseases.
Still, Schwartz warned.
"If you do not smoke, do not vape," Schwartz added. "The reason is that the extraction of nicotine electronic cigarettes, in particular … can be addictive."
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