Researchers at Harvard University’s School of Public Health (Massachusetts, USA) have found that substances that flavor e-cigarettes are toxic and often associated with serious lung disease.
Diacetyl, a chemical linked to severe lung disease, was found in more than 75% of flavored e-cigarettes and refills tested by these researchers), according to the conclusions of a study published in the medical journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Scientists tested 51 types of flavorings used in e-cigarettes and refills sold by major brands for the presence of diacetyl, acetoin and pentanedione. They observed that at least one of these three chemicals was present in 47 of the 51 flavors contained in the electronic cigarettes tested.
Diacetyl was detected above laboratory limits in 39 of these flavors.
“In addition to these three substances that can damage the lungs and having variable doses of nicotine, these electronic cigarettes also contain other carcinogenic chemicals, such as formaldehyde”, points out David Christiani, professor of environmental genetics at the Harvard University, study co-author.
Tobacco still too present in France
Despite all the studies on electronic cigarettes, Professor Dautzenberg, pulmonologist, president of the Paris Sans Tabac association reminds us that “e-cigarettes are a lesser evil, even if “the best thing is to take nothing”.
Indeed the tobacco figures in France are alarming. Tobacco consumption, which had declined from the 1970s, has increased since 2005, particularly among women and in the lower socio-economic classes, to reach nearly 34% of adults according to the National Institute of Monitoring. sanitary. Smoking kills 200 times a day in France and causes each smoker to lose between 10 and 15 years of life without health problems.
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