© Ecig Click
© Ecig Click

Researchers probe e-cigarette risks

As electronic or e-cigarettes grow in popularity, scientists have been attempting to find out how they affect the health of the users and those around them.  

According to Dr Esteve Fernández of the University of Barcelona, Spain, despite e-cigarettes – which are battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine and flavourings to users – not containing tobacco, their emissions do contain nicotine, benzene and other carcinogenic compounds.

Fernández is running the EU-funded TackSHS project aiming to find out more about the effects of second-hand emissions on people’s health, taking into account differences in lifestyles, economic conditions and levels of legislation.

Fernández said: “Electronic cigarettes don’t produce combustion of tobacco – in fact they don’t even contain tobacco.

“But because most users use charges containing nicotine, they do produce tobacco-specific nitrosamines which are carcinogenic.

“We know that the aerosols from e-cigarettes contain nicotine that can be assimilated by bystanders […] and also benzene and other compounds present in the aerosol.”

The project will examine the different health effects produced by the emissions from e-cigarettes.

The study will also observe the differences between electronic cigarettes and traditional cigarettes in terms of health, and also the best way of studying the impact of what is a relatively new product.

Fernández added: “In previous studies researchers have tried to study e-cigarettes as traditional cigarettes but this is an error.”

Fernández and the rest of the team will be carrying out their research by asking people in 12 European counties to complete surveys as well as by monitoring the levels of second-hand smoke in their environment.