E-cigarettes proven safer than traditional cigarettes
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Researchers observed lower levels of selected carcinogens and toxins among former smokers who only used nicotine replacement therapies or e-cigarettes long-term compared to people who had used combustible cigarettes long-term, according to recent findings.
“Although longitudinal cohort studies and randomized, controlled trials will provide the best data to answer questions about the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation, these designs are time- and resource-intensive,” Lion Shahab, PhD, from the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, and colleagues wrote. “In the absence of long-term data, a more pragmatic approach is to compare smokers and former smokers with or without concurrent e-cigarette use in real-life settings.”
To examine the potential risk of long-term e-cigarette use, researchers designed a cross-sectional study in London, England to compare exposure to nicotine, tobacco-related carcinogens and toxins among smokers of combustible cigarettes, e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). They divided 181 participants into five groups: combustible cigarette-only users, former smokers who since quitting have used only e-cigarettes or only NRT long-term (6 months or longer) and long-term dual combustible cigarette/e-cigarette or combustible cigarette/NRT users. Shahab and colleagues analyzed participants’ urine and saliva for biomarkers of nicotine, tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines and volatile organic compounds.
The results showed significantly lower metabolite levels for tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines and volatile organic compounds in e-cigarette only and NRT-only users compared with combustible cigarette-only, dual combustible cigarette/e-cigarette or dual combustible cigarette/NRT users. The investigators observed lower levels of the metabolite 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol in e-cigarette-only users compared with all other groups. Among combustible cigarette-only, dual combustible cigarette/NRT and dual combustible cigarette/e-cigarette users, they observed similar levels of tobacco-specific N-nitrosamines and volatile organic compound metabolites.
“Long-term NRT-only or e-cigarette–only use among former smokers is associated with substantially reduced levels of selected carcinogens and toxins compared with combustible cigarette smoking; however, concurrent use of NRTs or e-cigarettes with combustible cigarettes does not seem to offer this benefit,” Shahab and colleagues wrote. “Nicotine delivery of e-cigarettes and NRTs, although variable, is roughly similar to combustible cigarettes, but smaller meaningful differences may exist.” – by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: Shahab reports receiving grants from Cancer Research UK and Pfizer, and personal fees from Atlantis Health Care. Please see the full study for a list of all other author’s relevant financial disclosures.