E-Cigs May Be More Toxic Than Real Cigarettes: Study

A new study suggests that formaldehyde levels in e-cigarettes may be five to 15 times higher than in regular cigarettes, NBC News reported. For the study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, researchers analyzed aerosolized e-liquid in "tank system" e-cigarettes to detect formaldehyde-releasing agents in "hidden" form at various voltages. They found that high levels of this "hidden" formaldehyde can be produced when e-cigarette liquid is vaped at a high voltage. Co-author James F. Pankow, of Portland State University, said this doesn't mean e-cigarettes are more dangerous than regular cigarettes and that researchers were only looking at one chemical out of the thousands in tobacco smoke. "The hazards of e-cigarettes, if there are any, will be seen 10 to 15 years from now when they start to appear in chronic users," Pankow said. Exposure to gaseous formaldehyde has been linked to throat and nasal cancers and leukemias.

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