Passive vaping is believed to affect the cardiovascular system, produces stimulating effects and is addictive in individuals, just like passive smoking.
“Ambient nicotine levels from passive exposure to e-cigarette aerosol can lead to blood nicotine levels about as high as in a passive smoker of conventional cigarettes,” explains the Norwegian Institute of public health. However, passive smoking kills.
It is responsible for more than 600,000 deaths per year worldwide, or one in 100, according to figures from the World Health Organization. And if we only take into account deaths caused by tobacco, passive smoking is responsible for one in 10 deaths. Exposure to second-hand smoke is therefore responsible for 379,000 deaths from ischemic heart disease each year, 165 000 deaths from respiratory infections, 36,900 deaths from asthma and 21,400 deaths from lung cancer. Passive smoking also increases the risk of developing breast cancer by 10%, according to the National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm).
The Institute also recalls that the use during pregnancy of the electronic cigarette may lead to impaired development of lung function in the fetus and after birth. It also has a negative impact on the health of babies (low birth weight, premature birth and increased risk of death at birth). “E-cigarettes have only been available for a short time, so there has been little research on exposure and possible harm. The risk assessment is based primarily on the assessment of the individual components of e-cigarettes. However, there is a wide range of e-cigarette types, nicotine content and other various ingredients ”explains Dr Camilla Stoltenberg, Director General of the INSP.
But, the e-cigarette would be effective in quitting smoking
Despite the studies that discredit the electronic cigarette, the e-cigarette seems effective for the smoking cessation. The findings of a study by researchers from the University of Leuven and University College Antwerp in Belgium, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, reveal that it helps reduce tobacco consumption and to quit smoking.
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