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By Linda Carroll
A new study suggests that many teens who use e-cigarettes are unaware that they inhale nicotine when they breathe, although they often absorb high amounts of addictive substances.
Researchers who collected both survey data and urine samples from more than 500 adolescents found that 40% of adolescents who thought they were using nicotine-free products had breastfeeding tests. urine positive, according to the study published Monday in Pediatrics.
"This is one of the first studies showing how much nicotine kids get from the e-cigarette," said Dr. Rachel Boykan, lead author of the study, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Renaissance School of Medicine. from Stony Brook University. "They get a lot – as much or more than they would have with traditional cigarettes."
Analysis of the urine samples showed that the vapors absorbed a lot of nicotine, even when they thought they did not, said Boykan.
Boykan and his colleagues also discovered that vaping teenagers often used their device with cannabis.
Experts worry that the use of nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes will produce a generation of young addicts who could stick to vaping or turn to more dangerous traditional cigarettes later.
Between April 2017 and April 2018, researchers asked 517 adolescents aged 12 to 21 to complete a questionnaire on smoking, e-cigarettes and marijuana. Among the volunteers, 284 were also asked to provide a urine sample. The surveys and samples were collected anonymously, with the researchers linking the two types of data with numbers assigned to each volunteer, who received a $ 5 Starbucks coupon to participate.
Nicotine levels were measured indirectly by the amount of a metabolite called cotinine found in the urine of volunteers.
Of the 517 volunteers, 13.9% reported having smoked cigarettes; 36% reported trying electronic cigarettes; and 31.3% reported trying marijuana. Only 2.9% reported smoking the week before; 14.3% reported using e-cigarettes in the past week; and 11.4% reported using marijuana in the past week.
For their analysis, the researchers used data from 265 volunteers who had both a survey and a urine sample. Of those who indicated that they thought of using nicotine-free products, 40% had significant levels of cotinine in their urine.
Cotinine levels were highest among adolescents using a newer vaping technology: the pods. A pod is an e-cigarette using a capsule or a disposable cartridge. Cotinine levels in pod users were almost identical to those observed in tobacco smokers. People who sprayed older versions of electronic cigarettes had much lower cotinine levels in their urine samples.
"A bigger buzz"
"We now have a huge problem, many children using these products, many of whom do not understand what they are getting into," said pediatrician Dr. Sharon Levy.
"Nicotine is a very addictive substance that is administered at much higher concentrations than before," said Levy, director of the Teen Addiction and Addiction Program at Boston Children's Hospital. and an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. "So they have a more intense buzz."
Levy's own son asked him if the electronic cigarettes contained only "fruit juice" when he was in grade 8 or 9, she said.
Dr. Andrew Stokes, assistant professor of global health at the School of Public Health at Boston University, is alarmed by the new study.
Stokes conducted a study on electronic cigarettes, published in February, which revealed an increased risk of teens who smoke traditional cigarettes.
In fact, teenagers who did not see each other at the beginning of the study were almost nine times more likely than those who did not use the electronic cigarette to smoke traditional cigarettes later on.
"What's more alarming is the discovery of significantly higher cotinine levels in those who used pods, a new class of cartridges on the market," Stokes said. "And the finding that many children did not know that products containing nicotine is a concern. This suggests that this could be a route to nicotine addiction that children did not anticipate. "
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