While the long-term effects of e-cigarettes are still unknown, new research indicates vaping can cause a disruption to the biological functions in the lungs intended to fight diseases.
In a study published by the British Medical Journal, researchers found that exposure to e-cigarette aerosol, or vapor, can harm the proteins used in immune response along with the ability for the body to respond to xenobiotics, or foreign chemicals.
Alexandra Noël, director of the Inhalation Research Facility at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, studies cardiopulmonary diseases and how to inhaled environmental pollutants.
Noël explained the composition of e-cigarettes and how it can be harmful. She said she hopes that her lab can study other vaporizers and e-liquids on the market as they come out.
“E-liquid is the liquid found in an e-cigarette device that is used to create the aerosol– or the vapor– that the user will inhale,” Noël said. “Containing what we call the base humectant that is named propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and most of the time, nicotine. It could contain flavoring, but that is optional.”
The study was done using Juul Labs vapes. Juul is only one of the many brands of vaporizers on the market. The most common type of vape used is a disposable cart.
Usually packed with 20 mg/mL of nicotine, propylene glycol and some heavy metals like nickel and lead, these vapes can contribute to greater ecological damage with their single-use lithium-ion batteries.
“The newer disposable devices we see currently on the market will have the presence of nicotine salt. Some also will have the presence of synthetic nicotine… going back five to six years, we had more of like cartridges that contained free base nicotine,” Noël said.
Many reusable vapes are made with nicotine salt, which is fast-acting and high-concentration, or free base nicotine, used in Juul, which is meant for high wattage. Free-base nicotine hits the throat a lot harsher than nicotine salt.
Many current generation disposable e-cigarettes contain synthetic nicotine, which is made in a lab and is completely tobacco free, allowing for more purity.
The CDC says that secondhand smoke exposure increases the risk of asthma and respiratory infections like pneumonia and bronchitis in children, with the potential for them to develop behavioral and learning issues.
“There are some studies that look at what is found in the air before second-hand e-cigarette aerosol, and those studies have shown that there are still some levels of nicotine and other chemicals,” Noël said. “There’s definitely an exposure to second-hand e-cigarette aerosol that could impact the bystander, and that includes, you know, babies at home, children, etc.”
LSU sociology junior Leia Frazier got her first vape in high school. She started smoking because her friends did, and she said that she thought it made her look cool. She was given a free vape and continued until she dropped it on a whim one day.
“Sometimes I remember the sudden decision and I’m even surprised by myself that I just gave up on a random day and never thought twice about it,” Frazier said. “But I mean that’s just how my brain works.”
Frazier said watching videos of collapsed lungs and a few people’s personal experiences with heart and lung issues made her more aware of some of the risks associated with chronic vaping.
“I just genuinely didn’t really care,” Frazier said. “I think that’s the case with a lot of people, it’s not that we don’t know the dangers of vaping. People just don’t care because they think it wouldn’t happen to them.”
She said in order to keep kids away from vaping, people within their social network need to warn them about the effects.
Noël said that children are more likely to start vaping when they are attracted to the flavors. She supports a comprehensive flavor ban except for tobacco and menthol flavors. She believes in keeping these two flavors as a way to cease cigarette smoking.
“The law can ban anything they want to but there’s always a loophole around it,” Frazier said. “They need to see the effects with their own eyes in order to stray away.”
