THE ESSENTIAL
- Electronic cigarettes are generally used to quit or decrease tobacco consumption.
- ANSES has drawn up a list of substances declared in the compositions of vaping products: there are more than 1,200 substances.
Cigarette smokers exhale smoke more through their mouths than people who vape or use hookah, who do so more through their noses, according to a study published in the journal Tobacco Use Insights. According to the authors, this gesture makes the latter more likely to develop cancers of the nose, sinuses and throat than the former. In 2018, 34.7% of 18-75 year olds had already tried e-cigarettes and 3.8% used them daily, according to the Public Health France Health Barometer. An important health issue for a growing practice.
More risk of upper respiratory diseases
“Our results indicate that the way vapers and hookah smokers use their devices may expose the nose and sinuses to significantly more emissions than cigarettes, which may increase their risk of upper respiratory tract disease.“, estimates Emma Karey, main author of the study. To achieve this result, the researchers went to the streets and analyzed the behavior of 341 people. 122 were cigarette smokers, 123 vapers and 96 people were consumers. According to their observations, 63% of vapers and 50% of hookah smokers exhaled their smoke through the nose, while for smokers, this percentage was much lower, at 22%.
Exhaling smoke through the nose because of the taste
Electronic cigarettes are devices that deliver, in the form of vapor, nicotine with classic flavors (tobacco, fruit, etc.) and other more atypical ones such as chewing gum or cotton candy. According to the authors, these flavors improve the taste of these products, which might explain why their consumers exhale smoke through their noses. A way to better feel the taste. This observation is also valid for hookah, for which there are also a multitude of flavors.
Exhaling through the nose depends on the vaper
Another finding of the researchers: 70% of vapers who used Pod-type devices, that is to say all in one with the cartridge and the battery directly integrated into the electronic cigarette, expired through the nose. This percentage was on the other hand 50% among those who used a classic vaper, whose tank and battery are independent. Scientists hypothesize that the first devices produce more particles with each puff – compared to the second devices – and therefore users unknowingly exhale the smoke through their nose because there are too many of them.
Continue research to better analyze the health impact
“As vaping and hookah devices are used differently than traditional cigarettes, we need to study nose and lung diseases to assess their safety before judging whether one or the other is riskier.“, believes Terry Gordon, one of the authors. Research still needs to be conducted to determine whether the health problems of vapers and hookah smokers are due to their consumption of these products or to other factors.