Are E-Cigarettes Safe?
A scientific study has shown that inhalation of high vapor electronic cigarette dose increases susceptibility to respiratory infections and releases free radicals. Not enough to get back to smoke tobacco that stopped but total safety remains unproven.
At Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, USA), Professor Thomas Sussan and her team wanted to know if mice exposed to electronic cigarette fumes were or were not more susceptible to respiratory infections. To find out, they arranged a first group of rodents in an inhalation chamber. The animals breathed e-cigarette vapor for two weeks at levels, it seems equivalent to those of human exposure. In the second group, mice breathing fresh air.
To measure the susceptibility to infection, scientists have divided each group into three sub-groups: in the first, the mice received - Nasal - drops containing bacteria (Streptococcus pneumoniae) causing pneumonia and sinusitis. In the second, they were exposed to a type of influenza A. In the third, they received neither bacteria nor viruses.
The results are available in the journal Plos One. In the end, the researchers found that mice that had breathed electronic cigarette fumes were much more susceptible to infections. "The fumes inhibit the ability of mice to fight viral or bacterial infections that come to nest in their lungs," says Thomas Sussan. The authors show that these vapors emit free radicals, ie toxic substances that affect DNA. Their presence has surprised scientists because they are similar to those found in conventional cigarette fumes. "These free radicals, however, are 100 times lower in e-cigarettes, says Thomas Sussan. But they are still numerous enough to damage cells. »
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