A new Portland State University study finds that e-cigarettes produce 15 compounds — even when their liquid doesn’t contain nicotine or flavorings. It’s the largest number of compounds reported so far.
Chemistry professor David Peyton and his team found that when heated, e-cigarette liquid generates chemicals like dihydroxyacetone and formic acid.
“Some of them are just fine. Some of them are more problematic,” he said.
Peyton said smoking tobacco generates a lot more chemicals.
“From regular cigarettes there are thousands of compounds produced. Here we’re talking about a handful of compounds. So it’s relatively less,” he said.
Peyton said it took 20 years to prove tobacco smokers were more likely to get cancer. And it’s likely to take just as long to know the health effects of e-cigarettes.
The team will now look at what happens when nicotine and flavorings are added to the vaping liquid. They’ll also study the toxicology of the generated compounds.