You’ve seen them on television, in celebrity photos and in magazine ads — cool superstars vaping on electronic cigarettes. Their high-tech gadgets seem to be available everywhere, from shopping malls to the 24-hour convenience mart. Is it any wonder that teens are being tempted to try out the vaping craze? Yet scientists are disturbed by the fascination teens have with this nicotine-dispensing alternative to smoking. And with good reason. Data from a growing number of studies indicate that electronic cigarettes are not harmless.

Chemicals in e-cigarettes can damage lung tissue, provoking inflammation. That damage can reduce the ability of the lungs to keep out germs and other harmful substances, new studies show. Evidence of vaping’s growing appeal can be seen everywhere — from urban storefronts (as here) to kiosks in suburban shopping malls.
Yet teens seem largely unaware of — or unconcerned by — the emerging data on these risks. Their use of e-cigarettes has now surpassed that of conventional cigarettes. In the past year alone, e-cigarette use by U.S. middle-school and high-school teens has tripled. That’s the finding of a new government survey released last month.

Unlike true cigarettes, electronic cigarettes do not burn tobacco. They don’t burn anything. Instead, they turn a flavored liquid into a vapor. Users inhale, or vape, the mist. The liquid usually contains nicotine. That is a highly addictive substance naturally found in tobacco. It's presence in vaping liquids is no accident. E-cigarettes were designed to help tobacco addicts wean themselves off of smoking. Cigarette users become addicted to tobacco’s nicotine, a natural stimulant. But smoking also exposes their lungs to tar and other pollutants. E-cigarettes allow users to inhale the nicotine without those other substances.

Electronic cigarettes may be smoke-free, but they do contain chemicals that may cause changes in the lung that could affect a vaper’s susceptibility to infection. Among those chemicals: nicotine. Yet nicotine is more than addictive. It can actually harm the lungs, a new study finds. Researchers tested the effects of nicotine on lung tissue growing in a lab dish. Those lung cells were exposed to nicotine alone, in cigarette smoke and in e-cigarette vapors. Follow-up tests exposed lab animals to these same substances.Do you want to see more research on ecigs? Come to the ecigs forum to know.

Researchers tested the effects of nicotine on lung tissue growing in a lab dish. Those lung cells were exposed to nicotine alone, in cigarette smoke and in e-cigarette vapors. Follow-up tests exposed lab animals to these same substances. Nicotine caused inflammation in lung tissue. It also reduced that tissue’s ability to serve as a barrier to foreign substances, the researchers found. Irina Petrache is a doctor and lung specialist at Indiana University in Indianapolis. She headed the research team. Her group showed for the first time that nicotine, whatever its source, can harm lung tissue. So in this respect, her team now concludes, vaping would be no better for the lungs than cigarette smoking.

But even an e-cigarette liquid having no nicotine disrupted the barrier function of lung cells, the team found. They don’t know why. But this is unexpected and disturbing, Petrache’s team says. The scientists suspect it may have to do with solvents and other potentially toxic materials. These chemicals are present in the flavored liquids that are inhaled through e-cigarettes.

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