Electronic cigarettes and vape devices contain thousands of unknown chemicals and substances that are potentially dangerous, but manufacturers do not disclose them, according to a new study cited by UPI and BTA.
There are more than 2,000 chemicals in the aerosols they emit, and most of them cannot be identified by experts.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, have studied six substances and found them to be potentially harmful. Three of them have not been found in e-cigarettes so far.
Caffeine was found in two of the four vape devices analyzed, even when the aromatic liquid was neither coffee nor chocolate, the study also showed.
Researchers warn that consumers use products that pose unexplained health risks.
“More and more young people are using these e-cigarettes and need to know what they’re exposed to,” said study co-author Carsten Praze of Johns Hopkins University.
Previous studies of e-cigarettes have sought evidence of the presence of dangerous chemicals found in classic cigarettes. Although their chemical composition varies, vape devices can cause the same damage to health, including heart and lung complications, studies show.
The aerosols they release, which contain vitamin E acetate, for example, are associated with serious lung damage.
For the study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University do not focus on specific chemicals, but want to identify all the substances contained in aerosols.
After a detailed analysis with special equipment, it was found that liquids for e-cigarettes contain thousands of unknown chemicals, and the released aerosols – even more. “People just need to know that they inhale a very complex mixture of chemicals,” the researchers said.
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