What’s in vaporizers? Heavy metals, toxins, and possibly radioactive polonium
Health risks are presented by both the drugs and the devices themselves.
My short answer to your concern is that we don’t totally understand what’s in e-cigarettes, disposable vapes, or e-liquids.
This is a challenging question to answer because to the wide range of products and flavours that are available, the fact that components change when they are cooked or interact with one another, and inadequate labelling.
Analytical chemistry, including the work of my own team, is a source of some of the solutions. But understanding how they affect health adds another level of complexity. Several factors, such as the kind of device used, the flavours used, and how it is used, might affect the health hazards connected with e-cigarettes.
Vapers simply aren’t aware of what they’re inhaling, making it impossible for them to know what impact it will have on their health.
Exactly what?
Despite these challenges, there are notable parallels between the results of different laboratories.
Ingredients include nicotine, flavourings, and the liquids they are suspended in (often propylene glycol and glycerine).
Additionally, we detect carcinogens, particle debris, and volatile chemical substances, many of which we are aware are dangerous.
Additionally, in our earlier research, 2-chlorophenol was found in almost half of the e-liquids that consumers buy to refill refillable e-cigarettes. This particular chemical serves no legitimate purpose. The classification is “harmful if inhaled” on a worldwide scale. Its presence was most likely brought on by pollutants from industries.
In recent weeks, the radioactive substance polonium-210, which was used to kill former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006, has been suggested as a potential component. Vapes are currently being examined by Queensland’s state government.
Polonium-210 is present in conventional cigarettes and other tobacco products. This is because plants that grow tobacco absorb radioactive materials from the soil, the air, and fertiliser heavy in phosphate.
If polonium-210 is found in the aerosols produced by e-cigarettes is unknown. However, it would be feasible if the glycerin in e-liquids comes from plants and the same fertilisers are used to make them.
Beyond the components, it goes.
Along with the drugs they contain, the components used to produce e-cigarette devices might end up in our bodies.
Toxic metals and related substances, such as arsenic, lead, chromium, and nickel, can be found in both e-liquids and vapers’ urine, saliva, and blood.
Significant health risks are associated with these medications, including the possibility of cancer. They might escape from an e-cigarette’s heating coil, wires, and soldered connections, among other parts.
When e-liquids are heated to create an inhalable aerosol, their chemical makeup is changed, producing degradation products.
These include:
(A substance used to embalm corpses) formaldehyde
A key ingredient in alcohol-induced hangovers is acetaldehyde.
In the First World War, the herbicide acrolein served as a chemical weapon.
These chemicals are typically present in e-cigarette sample sets. The different tools and techniques used to collect the samples, however, cause the amounts seen to vary considerably between studies.
Supporters of vaping assert that using e-cigarettes is significantly safer than smoking tobacco because the levels are typically extremely low.
This argument fails to take into consideration the fact that many e-cigarette users (especially teens) have either formerly smoked cigarettes or do not now smoke cigarettes. A more accurate comparison would be between using an e-cigarette and breathing “fresh” air.
There is no doubt that e-cigarette users are more likely to be exposed to poisons and harmful substances than non-users. Those who buy tobacco cigarettes, as opposed to vapers, usually receive a deluge of messages regarding the risks of smoking.
Should you be encountering any of the difficulties outlined in this article, please reach out to us, and our team will try to help in any way possible.
