The Dangers of E-Cigarettes: Toxic Metals Exposed

[Painter_]

scienceworldreport.
com/articles/16877/20140828/the-dangers-of-e-cigarettes-toxic-metals-exposed.htm

Not a totally bad write up some cause for concern.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California has found that while second-hand exposure to e-cigarettes is less harmful than traditional ones, there are some harmful metals that can be found at significantly higher levels in this product.

"Our results demonstrate that overall electronic cigarettes seem to be less harmful than regular cigarettes, but their elevated content of toxic metals such as nickel and chromium do raise concerns,

What was the amount? How does it compare to the real ones?

As tobacco smoke contains higher amounts of polycyclinc aromatic hydrocarbons--cancer-causing organic compounds--the level of exposure from these substances was reduced to about zero in second-hand e-cigarette smoke. However, toxic metal emissions can also be found in e-cigarettes. Researchers also found several toxic metals, including lead and zinc, in second-hand e-cigarette smoke.

Again at what levels?

Here is the study, but I could only get the abstract.

Particulate Metals and Organic Compounds from Electronic and Tobacco-containing Cigarettes: Comparison of Emission Rates and Secondhand Exposure - Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts (RSC Publishing)

Some supplemental data from the study.
http://www.rsc.org/suppdata/em/c4/c4em00415a/c4em00415a1.pdf




In all but two of the metrics the e-cig was less than outdoor air.

 

[Moonbogg]

I'd like to know which devices produce these toxins and at what levels. Does a cigalike produce more toxins? What does an RDA produce at 50watts? What does a kayfun produce at 13watts? All questions, so little answers.

 

[Vininim]

I'd like to know which devices produce these toxins and at what levels. Does a cigalike produce more toxins? What does an RDA produce at 50watts? What does a Kayfun produce at 13watts? All questions, so little answers.

Quoting from the article: The researchers specifically examined second-hand smoke from Elips Serie C e-cigarettes.

Seems to be your typical "ego-like" devie.

 

[dragonpuff]

From the abstract:

Organic species had lower emission rates during e-cigarette consumption compared to normal cigarettes. Of particular note was the non-detectable emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from e-cigarettes, while substantial emission of these species was observed from normal cigarettes. Overall, with the exception of Ni, Zn, and Ag, the consumption of e-cigarettes resulted in a remarkable decrease in secondhand exposure to all metals and organic compounds.

So this is good. This is very good, actually. Combined with the additional data supplied by the OP, you're better off vaping than breathing air.

So why all the fuss in the article? First the obviously inflammatory and misleading title, then this photo caption:

E-cigarettes may be "healthier" than traditional choices, but did you know there are also some toxic metals in them?

Then the majority of the article focuses on the very few, mildly negative findings, and all but ignores the incredible positive findings.

This is another unfortunate, yet now classic, example of spinning an e-cig study in a negative light just to prove a point. The article has nothing to do with the actual findings, and it's written that way on purpose.

 

[Sarin]

I'm going to stick my neck out here are say that the metals in question are coming from coil / heating element rather than the eliquid?

 

[Kent C]

I'm going to stick my neck out here are say that the metals in question are coming from coil / heating element rather than the eliquid?

A better guess from the info provided, would be that the source would be the outside air taken in through the air holes/paths.

 

[DrMA]

A better guess from the info provided, would be that the source would be the outside air taken in through the air holes/paths.

^^^ This is is only reasonable conclusion from that study

 

[dragonpuff]

The abstract posted by the OP does show slightly higher levels for a few metals in vapor than outside air. The researchers concluded that these are probably from the metals in the device itself, and I agree that is likely. However it's not enough to warrant any kind of urgent concern.

It must be noted that this is one study, on one device. That does not generalize to all devices, and more studies need to be conducted to determine whether this is a common issue or just a problem with the materials that one or a few manufacturers use.

That being said, this study still shows that the e-cigarette in the study is about as safe as air. Upon seeing the data presented, I would not be deterred from using the device. If, however, I were shown the article without the data, I may be dissuaded from it. That is a problem.

 

[Kent C]

^^^ This is is only reasonable conclusion from that study

And since it is less in ecigs, they must filter some of it out of the air

 

[Painter_]

That is what happened to me. I read the article and started the post before I saw the data. I was thinking "oh my" more bad news so I started digging to find the actual study.

Looking at the external data they posted and the abstract I think that the full study will be positive. The metals look just slightly higher than the air but lower than a cig so is it even something to worry about.

 

[dragonpuff]

We cannot assume that the few metals found are actually coming from the air. We need to take into account the possibility that they are actually coming from the metals inside the e-cig until more studies are done to confirm or refute that.

Again, it is a very minor finding. All things considered, the study showed that this e-cig is quite safe to use.

 

[sonicdsl]

There's also a possibility that the results are from using too low a resistance on the carto/atty/clearo and/or voltage/wattage too high, which is what appears to have caused the misleading results in the UCSF "study". IOW, they're not doing it right.

 

[Vininim]

Doesn't this also happen when you cook food? Funnily enough, the first hit I got on google while researching for this is a company that ends the article with "stop cooking,and let us cook for you with our super duper cookware".

 

[DrMA]

We cannot assume that the few metals found are actually coming from the air. We need to take into account the possibility that they are actually coming from the metals inside the e-cig until more studies are done to confirm or refute that.

Again, it is a very minor finding. All things considered, the study showed that this e-cig is quite safe to use.

That's not assumption, it's a conclusion supported by the data.

 

[dragonpuff]

That's not assumption, it's a conclusion supported by the data.

The data shows that nickel and zinc are both present in higher amounts in the e-cig vapor than outdoor air.

Upon further inspection, I find that the differences are within their respective margins of error, and can therefore be considered negligible.

Nevermind it very well could just be the air then.

 

[HowlinMadMurphy]

This article has a graphic that does show that most of the metals are indeed coming from the device itself and not the liquid.

Second-hand e-cigarette smoke compared to regular cigarette smoke

 

[twgbonehead]

This article has a graphic that does show that most of the metals are indeed coming from the device itself and not the liquid.

Second-hand e-cigarette smoke compared to regular cigarette smoke

But the graphic is complete BS! (A glaring error is that they show ni being higher in e-ciggs than regular cigs, while in the test data it's lower).

And it completely fails to mention what they measured in the outside air: (below is air vs e-cig)

Cr: 5.53 vs 4.22
Ni: 5.57 vs 6.14 +/-2.9
Pb: 13.28 vs 9.85
Zn: 54.31 vs 56.08 +/- 21 (!)

They claim that e-cigarettes emit Chromium, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc but for ALL 4 of these, the levels were either lower from e-cigarettes, or well within the variation of the measurement!

(I find their claim of "E-cigarettes emit lead" to be particularly disgusting)

Look at the raw data from the OP's "supplemental data" link. None of the stuff mentioned in the article is supported by the data AT ALL!!!!!

ETA: The article also mentions silver:

Ag: 1.84 vs 0.46.

I call total BS!!!

 

[Vininim]

From first principles of physics, it's not a surprise: all substances theoretically exist in nature in the 3 phases. This doesn't change for the materials in an atomizer.

Temperature only changes the quantities. For example, palladium takes a long time to have an observable change in mass if left in a small enclosed dome (like the bar used for the metric unit standard). If you heat and/or pass air throught it, the rate of evaporation will change. So it is a matter of comparing it to a realistic atmosphere: heat sinks, fans, cars, industries. And then comparing that to toxic levels. I'm actually not that big of a fan of public indoor vaping, because either i'm not getting the nicotine or people are having their background nicotine slightly increased: it has to go somewhere or I would be vaping 0 nic. Which goes back to the tomato paste argument.

FUD Campaigns work with that illusion: that civilized modern life by itself isn't full of "toxicity" and that e-cig is a big monster poisoning people more than a computer heatsink, fans and tomatoes already do.

 

[edyle]

The notion of METALs in vape at any significant levels sounds prepostorous to me.

Worse yet for the 'second hand' vape notion.

 

[dragonpuff]

This article has a graphic that does show that most of the metals are indeed coming from the device itself and not the liquid.

Second-hand e-cigarette smoke compared to regular cigarette smoke

I agree with twgbone, the graph is BS. One of the easiest ways to mislead people about the information found in a study is to make a graph. Simply changing the scale of the graph can make the numbers look dramatically different, as you can tell by this example. Also, the fact that they emphasize finding chromium, yet conveniently leave out all data on outdoor air (which was shown to contain chromium), shows that this graph was designed to mislead the reader into thinking that e-cigarettes are dangerous.