Vaping is the new “cool thing” today. Considered a healthy alternative to smoking, it is gaining popularity among teenagers. However, is it as harmless as most believe it to be?
According to a study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco this is not the case. The urine samples which were collected from teenagers which were engaged in vaping showed elevated levels of five different toxins. Lead researcher, Dr. Mark Rubinstein, stated: “All of the toxins are known or suspected carcinogens. Teens who used e-cigarettes had up to three times greater amounts of the toxins in their urine than teens who never vape”.
So why is vaping still so popular regardless of these findings and how are teenagers getting involved in it? A professor of pediatrics with the University of California, San Francisco Dr. Mark Rubinstein has an answer for these questions: “One of the reasons why more teens are using these products is they feel that they are safe and/or safer than smoking. Based on these results, if the teenagers kept using these products over the years, we believe it could be dangerous. Right now, a lot of the flavors being marketed seem to clearly be targeting teen. I think it’s difficult to argue that you’re marketing these products to adults trying to wean off cigarettes when you’re offering flavors like ‘unicorn poop’ and bubble gum.”
Additionally, the vaping companies are making money before there are many studies conducted to prove the harm of vaping. So, they are pretty much in a race with time before people start to realize the actual dangers. Also, vaping advocates are saying that while it might not be the perfect alternative to smoking, it is still less of a threat than an actual cigarette.
The president of the American Vaping Association, a nonprofit that advocates for e-cigarettes, Gregory Conley states: “The results of this study fall in line with prior literature estimating the cancer risk from e-cigarette use to be orders of magnitude lower than the risk from smoking cigarettes. While it is clear from the data that environmental sources of toxins played a considerable role in the levels measured among all groups, the data nonetheless shows significant reductions in exposure among exclusive e-cigarette users”.
Overall, vaping is in no way beneficial to your health. Therefore, if you switched from regular cigarettes to the electronic ones and think that now you are on the safe side, think again.
For more information read:
https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/teen-vaping
