Vaping linked to host of new health risks
Potential effects span immunity to mental health and sperm to heart
RISKY PUFFS Many people assume e-cigarettes are a healthier alternative to smoking. But new animal data suggest vaping may pose immune risks — and possibly behavioral and reproductive risks for the children of women who vape during pregnancy.
Nick Starichenko/Shutterstock
WASHINGTON — Many people have turned to electronic cigarettes in hopes of avoiding the heart and cancer risks associated with smoking conventional tobacco products. But vaping appears far from benign, a trio of toxicologists reported February 11 and 12 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting.
If used as a means to totally wean people off of tobacco products, then e-cigarettes might have value, concedes Ilona Jaspers of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But she’s not sure. Unpublished data that she and the others presented at the meeting link e-cig products to a host of new risks. So vaping may not eliminate risks associated with conventional smoking, Jaspers maintains — “and may actually be introducing new ones.”
Her group examined scraped cells from the noses of otherwise healthy people who
