12h ago

Disposable E-Cigarettes More Toxic Than Traditional Cigarettes, Study Finds

www.ucdavis.edu Disposable E-Cigarettes More Toxic Than Traditional Cigarettes

They may look like travel shampoo bottles and smell like bubblegum, but after a few hundred puffs, some disposable, electronic cigarettes and vape pods release higher amounts of toxic metals than older e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, according to a study from the University of California, D...

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www.ucdavis.edu /news/disposable-e-cigarettes-more-toxic-traditional-cigarettes

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The scientists analyzed the metal and metalloids inside seven types of disposable devices from three of the most popular brands. Using an instrument to activate the disposable e-cigarettes and heat the internal liquid, they created between 500 and 1,500 puffs for each device. They found:
Some devices emitted surprisingly high concentrations of elements in the vapor, including antimony and lead.
Levels of chromium, nickel and antimony increased as the number of puffs increased.
Most of the disposable e-cigarettes tested released markedly higher amounts of metals and metalloids into vapors than earlier, refillable vapes.
The scientists then took apart the devices to trace the sources of the metals.
“We found that these disposable devices have toxins already present in the e-liquid, or they’re leaching quite extensively from their components into e-liquids and ultimately transferred to the smoke,” Salazar said.

TL;DR: Small study of only 3 out of 100 brands on the market, so limited inference can be drawn but cheap construction leaches toxic substances into the liquid in ways that older non-disposable vapes don't. In terms of health risk non-disposable vapes are best followed by a tie between traditional cigarettes and disposable vapes.
- The particular brands are Elf Bar, Flum, and EscoBar
  Edit addendum: heavy metals supposedly came from non heating elements
- Most of the disposable e-cigarettes tested released markedly higher amounts of metals and metalloids into vapors than earlier, refillable vapes.
  Yeah, seems to be an issue with a lack of commercial regulation than with the inherent technology itself. I am usually skeptical of any study toting cigarettes as the "safer" option, however this kinda keeps in pace with our society's rapid devolution back to industrial age regulatory standards.
  Industry's regulatory and judicial capture seems to rear it ugly head once again at the expense of the public's health.
- And those three "brands" are all from the same company, who most certainly just gets them from SE Asia, they probably all come out of the exact same sweatshop.
- Pretty sure all three of those brands are owned by the same company too.
  Also they might leach more metals, but they still don't produce the other known carcinogens in cigarettes.
- In terms of health risk, not intentionally putting chemicals into your lungs that haven't been prescribed by a doctor is best, but non-disposable vapes are a good harm reduction strategy for those who can't get out of the compulsive habit.

The American mind yearns for the lead.

Look at all of y’all defending vapes 😂 your lungs are gonna be toast.
- Anecdotal, but as someone who has used vapes and smoked cigarettes since well before Juuls and the modern disposable market existed, I feel infinitely healthier vaping even modern disposables than I ever did smoking cigarettes.
  If I were to guess at whether I was verifiably healthier now using only dispos, versus back when I smoked half a pack or more per day, my guess would be that I am far healthier now than I ever was then
  Im open to being proven wrong, and obviously the best thing would be not to smoke at all, but as far as harm reduction goes Im still of the opinion that smoking cigarettes must be far worse. At least assuming you dont smoke well past the safe point of running out of liquid and just inhale straight coil. A lot of these reviews seem dubious to me in that they probably run the device differently than it is actually used by a vaper. Running past safe points of juice, running hotter than your lungs would ever be comfortable with etc. Just like how studies of cigs would have a pseudo-human device chain smoke without accounting for the ability of the lungs to clean themselves up over time. Or just time in general. How is a robot smoking 1000x straight the same as a human having 1000 darts over multiple months? That kind of thing
  
  I know of at least a couple of earlier e-cig studies that fired the coils until the tank internals literally started to melt (i believe they were 60 second long 'puffs') and give off toxins. They then used this flawed data to claim that vaping normally would expose you to these compounds. Outside of old ancient mechanical mods, most every device times out after 10 seconds and even if they didn't, no person would ever come close to a 60 second (nor even 10 seconds) long drag as the vapor temperature would burn the shit out of your throat long before that and people's lungs aren't large enough to inhale for that long.
  
  It is true that vaping does’t have the immediate and perceivable negative effects on your body that cigarettes have. However, inhaling chemicals into your lungs is just clearly a bad idea. Metals? Wow yeah that makes your brain dumb. Have you noticed the mental decline around you? I sure have.
  I used to smoke. Then I went to “ecigs.” Then the mints… and now I just do other drugs haha. I’m not going to tell someone not to do what they want to their body… but they should be honest, and educated about their choices—and not just making up excuses and ignoring medical science.
- Noting the flaws in mythology is kind of important to science...And the article doesn't do it so people in the comments are.
  
  Creating convenient excuses is creating mythology.

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