Let’s get an introduction and some background information so we’re all on the same page about this important topic. Traditional tobacco cigarettes contain more than 4000 harmful substances. Vaping has been touted as “a healthier alternative”, but e-cigarettes are relatively new technology. In fact e-cigarettes were originally designed to help adults quit smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes. But only about 6.7% of adults use e-cigarettes. In contrast in 2019 30% of high schoolers reported that they used e-cigarettes. 

So how do e-cigarettes work? Well a lot of devices have this basic design. Here is some kind of battery that powers a coil that is used to heat the vape juice that is stored in a small tank above the coil. Vape juice generally contains nicotine, flavorings, and many other chemicals. So when the coil heats the vape juice it creates an aerosol that gets breathed in by the user. These aerosols can contain lots of chemicals, some of which can be carcinogens or turn into carcinogens when they get processed by the body. Remember, carcinogens are chemicals that cause cancer. For example nicotine can turn into a carcinogen in the body. Plus it is highly addictive.

Given all this information, researchers were curious about how vaping impacts the cells of the body. So they did some investigation and put together a summary of all the results they found.