E-cigarettes have 10 times more carcinogens

[-V-]

E-cigarettes contain up to 10 times the amount of cancer-causing agents as regular tobacco, Japanese scientists said Thursday, the latest blow to an invention once heralded as less harmful than smoking.

A team of researchers commissioned by Japan's Health Ministry studied the vapour produced by e-cigarettes for signs of carcinogens, a media report said.

The electronic devices -- increasingly popular around the world, particularly among young people -- function by heating flavoured liquid, which often contains nicotine, into a vapour that is inhaled, much like traditional cigarettes, but without the smoke.

Researchers found carcinogens such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in vapour produced by several types of e-cigarette liquid, TBS television reported.

Formaldehyde -- a substance found in building materials and embalming fluids -- was present at levels 10 times those found in the smoke from regular cigarettes, TBS said.

Researcher Naoki Kunugita and his team at the National Institute of Public Health submitted their report to the ministry on Thursday, the broadcaster said.

Neither the scientist nor anyone from the health ministry were immediately available to confirm the report.

In common with many jurisdictions, Japan does not regulate e-cigarettes, which can be bought easily on the Internet. However, unlike in some Western countries, they are not readily available in shops.

In August, the World Health Organization called on governments to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, warning they pose a "serious threat" to unborn babies and young people.

The UN health body also said they should be banned from indoor public spaces.

www.timeslive.co.za/lifestyle/2014/11/27/e-cigarettes-have-10-times-more-carcinogens-say-researchers

If this is true then back to the smokes is it????

[tomj777]

So much about this report that we don't know so it's really hard to judge.
What we do know already, however, gives a little credence to the report.... We know that some flavourings break down into comparable acetaldehyde and (including VG) formaldehyde when vaped at high watts (i.e. high temperatures) - for this reason I don't play at sub-ohm / very high watts levels (which means I never go below 1 ohm which , in my Mechs, means less than ~17W).
source link

We also know that many other carcinogens are simply not present in electronic cigarettes, along with the tar transport and and carbon monoxide
And we know that we don't need to inhale into lungs to catch either flavour or nicotine absorption.
We know that under normal (I guess sub 12W conditions) these concentrations



What we don't know:

• Peer Review completion (goes to credibility)
• Test criteria and sample size and liquid constitution (goes to relevance)
• Test conditions (goes to relevance)
• Stuff we haven't discovered about our solution (goes both ways)
• How carcinogenic these are in comparison to other carcinogens found in tobacco burning (goes to relative risk)

My view - the report as it stands, with all it's vagueness, may well be right in it's findings. However, relevance (other than for emotive headlines and political justification of tax and corporate financial interests from tobacco, pharmaceutical and financial `services`) is highly questionable.

[markm]

This looks to be a recreation of an FDA study done about 5 years ago,
They used a smoking machine to run some cartos dry, to the point where
They self destructed. The science was so bad in that one the FDA finally
Got coy about it and pulled it from their website. Although it was referenced for years.
This seems to have used that as it's template and managed to get even more alarming
Results. Incidentally this one still remains unpublished, so what you are seeing is reports
Of a report that is reported to say........well that will possibly never see the light of day.

[markm]

Well it looks like it has been published, the methodology used goes by this title:

Health Canada Official Method T-115, Determination of “Tar”, Nicotine and Carbon Monoxide in Mainstream Tobacco Smoke; Health Canada: Ottawa, ON, Canada, 1999.

So perhaps they went as far as setting fire to them, as it was a test for TAR!

[djs]

And from an opposing study

Researchers used an EGO Twist battery (variable voltage) and a top-coil clearomizer (with unknown resistance, thus unknown wattage delivery). At 3.2 and 4.0 volts, formaldehyde levels were 13-807 times lower compared to tobacco cigarettes. At 4.8 volts, formaldehyde levels were increased by up to 200 times, and reached levels similar to tobacco cigarettes.

Maybe the Japanese were testing 150W mods?

[markm]

This is the full report, totaly misquoted in the press, and demonstrates outdated methodology
And heavy bias. Much of it reads like a policy statement rather than science:

www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/11/11192/htm

[tomj777]

Nov 27, 2014 11:56:02 GMT markm said:

This is the full report, totaly misquoted in the press, and demonstrates outdated methodology
And heavy bias. Much of it reads like a policy statement rather than science:

www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/11/11192/htm

Thanks for finding that.  
Good to see Dr F as the external editor and good to see the conclusion

5. Conclusions

Studies have shown that e-cigarettes emit toxic carbonyl compounds, generated from thermal decomposition. These substances can have adverse health effects; however, in most cases, the levels are lower than those in tobacco cigarette smoke. It is important to expand the research in this field, to better understand the source of carbonyls emitted from e-cigarettes and find ways to reduce them.

Quick sense check (don't have time to research beyond) - are we confident that this is the report in the emotive press given the publication date?

[markm]

Direct from the man himself:

www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php/2013-04-07-09-50-07/2014/188-frm-jp

[andy01424]

Nov 27, 2014 14:09:49 GMT markm said:

Direct from the man himself:

www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php/2013-04-07-09-50-07/2014/188-frm-jp

THIS ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED
Please contact customer support as soon as possible

dont think they liked it

[Ripshod]

The link to Dr F's piece works fine for me.

Fact: Mammals exhale Formaldehyde with every breath. Formaldehyde is produced by burning anything organic.

To produce Formaldehyde and Acetaldehyde in those quantities you'd have to literally BURN the juice, well beyond a 'dry hit', and I believe that is exactly what they did to get those results.