E-cigarettes are 'NOT a safe alternative to smoking', study finds

The study says that e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals that harm the lungs and weaken the immune system.

16:49 05 February 2015

A new study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University has found that smoking e-cigarettes should not be considered a safe alternative to smoking. In an experiment, the study found that e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals that harm the lungs and weaken the immune system.

In experiments, mice exposed to e-cigarette fumes suffered mild damage to their lungs and became far more susceptible to respiratory infections. Their immune responses were also weakened by such extent that some animals died.

Lead author professor Shyam Biswai said: 'We have observed that they increase the susceptibility to respiratory infections in the mouse models.

'This warrants further study in susceptible individuals, such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) patients who have switched from cigarettes to e-cigarettes, or to new users of e-cigarettes who may have never used cigarettes.'

Mice were exposed to same amount of doses inhaled by humans. After two weeks, the animals were infected with pneumonia bacteria or a strain of flu virus.

Co-author Dr Thomas Sussan said: 'E-cigarette vapour alone produced mild effects on the lungs, including inflammation and protein damage.

'However, when this exposure was followed by a bacterial or viral infection, the harmful effects of e-cigarette exposure became even more pronounced.

'The e-cigarette exposure inhibited the ability of mice to clear the bacteria from their lungs, and the viral infection led to increased weight loss and death, indicative of an impaired immune response.'