- People are exposed to high levels of formaldehyde from e-cigarette vapour
- They are also exposed to acrolein, a toxin which irritates the eyes and skin
- That is the finding of a study of just 3 people an hour using the devices in a bar
Victoria Allen Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail
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Scientists have issued a warning on passive vaping because of toxic chemicals in e-cigarette vapour.
People in bars where vaping is allowed are exposed to unhealthy levels of formaldehyde, which causes cancer, and acrolein, a toxin which irritates the eyes and skin.
That is the finding of a study based on as few as three people an hour using the devices in a bar.
The dangers of passive smoking led to the 2007 smoking ban, with the most famous victim being television celebrity Roy Castle, a non-smoker who died of lung cancer after years playing the trumpet in smoke-filled pubs.
However there is no similar law for vaping, although some pub companies including JD Wetherspoon have voluntarily banned electronic cigarettes.
People in bars where vaping is allowed are exposed to unhealthy levels of formaldehyde, which causes cancer, and acrolein, a toxin which irritates the eyes and skin
Last year the World Health Organisation called on Britain to consider a total ban in public spaces due to the risk from ‘second-hand vapour’.
Researchers led by Berkeley University in California found toxic chemicals released into bars exceeded their state’s guideline safety levels.
E-cigarettes aren’t without their risks
Their study states: ‘E-cigarettes likely represent a lower risk to health than traditional combustion cigarettes, but they are not innocuous.’
Following a similar study last year, co-author Dr Hugo Destaillats , from Berkeley, said: ‘Regular cigarettes are super unhealthy. E-cigarettes are just unhealthy.’
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While e-cigarettes don’t produce toxic tobacco smoke, which causes lung cancer, they generate other compounds that are potentially dangerous to human health.
Formaldehyde intake from just 100 daily puffs of one of these devices is higher than the amount inhaled by a smoker on 10 conventional cigarettes a day.
‘LET STAFF VAPE AT THEIR DESKS’
Bosses should consider allowing workers to use e-cigarettes at their desks to cut smoking rates, according to Government plans issued last month.
Health chiefs pledged to slash smoking rates from 15.5 per cent to 12 per cent in five years.
They said vaping was key, helping 22,000 smokers quit a year, and employers should be reminded that e-cigarette use was not illegal in offices.
This is despite scientists’ concerns over the potential health risk of the devices – particularly the chemicals used to flavour vapour.
In a push for a ‘smoke-free generation’, the Tobacco Control Plan said: ‘E-cigarette use is not covered by smoke-free legislation and should not routinely be included in the requirements of an organisation’s smoke-free policy.’
What is the chemical used for?
The chemical, used to embalm dead bodies, has been suggested to raise the risk of leukaemia and brain cancer in people who work with it regularly, like funeral directors.
Formaldehyde, along with acrolein, is produced when the main ingredients of electronic cigarettes, propylene, glycol and glycerine, are heated.
The person vaping is exposed but they also endanger others when exhaling the vapour into the environment.
The study authors calculated levels of this vapour based on the findings of previous studies on vaping in bars. They took into account indoor air volumes and the number of hourly users, which ranged from just over three to 13.
Exceeding guidelines
The results show, despite e-cigarette vapour evaporating quickly, that formaldehyde in these bars hit an average level of 135 micrograms per cubic metre and acrolein reached 28 micrograms – both exceeding the California guidelines.
Concentrations of toxic benzene, which can cause anaemia and shrink the size of women’s ovaries, came close to unsafe levels.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Science Technology, also judged the risk to people who use e-cigarettes, based on 250 puffs a day, which was found to be typical usage for more than 800 heavy vapers in a previous study.
This level of us exposed people to unsafe levels of formaldehyde and diacetyl – a chemical used to flavour many e-cigarettes and blamed for an incurable condition called ‘popcorn lung’ in which the organs become so scarred, a lung transplant can be needed.
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