E-cigarettes expose teens to cancer-causing chemicals: Study

E-cigarettes contain cancer-causing chemicals similar to those found in traditional cigarettes, according to new research exploring the unknown dangers of electronic nicotine delivery systems, especially as their use becomes more widespread among teenagers.

The small study, led by Dr. Mark Rubinstein of the Division of Adolescent Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, evaluated at least 103 teenagers, with the average age of 16. The teens were divided into three groups: e-cigarette-only users, cigarette and e-cigarette users, and non-users.

In urine samples from the three groups, researchers predictably found high levels of carcinogenic chemicals in the cigarette and e-cigarette users, but also found the same chemicals — albeit at lower levels — in e-cigarette-only users.

None of the chemicals — which included benzene, ethylene, oxide, acrylonitrile, acrolein and acrylamide — were found in non-smokers.

The study was published Tuesday in the medical journal Pediatrics.

“Although e-cigarette vapor may be less hazardous than tobacco smoke, our findings can be used to challenge the idea that e-cigarette vapor is safe, because many of the volatile organic compounds we identified are carcinogenic,” Dr. Rubinstein and colleagues wrote in the conclusion. “Messaging to teenagers should include warnings about the potential risk from toxic exposure to carcinogenic compounds generated by these products.”

While fewer teens are smoking conventional cigarettes, e-cigarette use — or vaping — is growing increasingly popular.

Seventeen percent of 12th-graders reported using some sort of vaping device, either with nicotine, a flavored liquid or marijuana, in 2017, compared to 13 percent in 2016, according to the University of California-San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.