In my past few posts I have outlined the scope of the issue of vaping and the causes of this epidemic. In this post I will discuss the bodily harms of vaping, as the widespread use of vape products wouldn't be harmful unless it could cause severe harms to the American student population. Unfortunately, the harms of vaping are both numerous and substantial. I will first discuss the short term harms of vaping, or what can happen to one's body after a few uses. Then, I will discuss the long term harms, or what can happen to one's body after chronic and regular usage of vape products.
To start, there are a few short term harms of vaping that should deter those interested. One such harm is the possibility of potentially deadly side effects. These come in the forms of allergic reactions, where the body, being unused to the vapor and chemicals in the lungs, reacts negatively, often causing serious complications. One such instance of this is An 18-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis, also known as “wet lung,” a few weeks after taking up vaping. The chemicals in the e-cigarettes, the doctors hypothesized, caused an allergic reaction in her lungs that led to respiratory failure and forced her on to a breathing machine until her lungs recovered. Stories like this point towards the extreme risks of taking up vaping, as even though many claim these products are generally safer than cigarettes, the possibility of potentially deadly complications is ever constant.
Another short term risk associated with e-cigarette products is the risk of the device exploding. This can happen when the lithium battery used to power the device fails. The lithium-ion batteries used to power e-cig vaporizers are small and powerful. Thus, when they fail, the results can be disastrous We’ve seen that with cellphones, laptops and most recently, hoverboards. Extreme temperatures — below 50 degrees or above 115 — can cause some lithium-ion batteries to malfunction. Thankfully, these mishaps don’t happen very often, but when an e-cigarette battery malfunctions, the injuries can be horrendous — burns on the hands and face, fractured bones and loss of eyesight. Additionally, significant tissue damage to the mouth, hands, or tendons can occur.
Now, although the short term harms of vaping seem grave, the long term harms are far worse. The first harm of long term vape product usage is chronic exposure to many different, dangerous chemicals. The main chemicals I will discuss are propylene glycol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein.
Propylene Glycol: Propylene glycol is a synthetic organic compound with the chemical formula C₃H₈O₂. It is a viscous, colorless liquid which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. It is a liquid alcohol that is used as a solvent, in antifreeze, and in the food, plastics, and perfume industries. While the FDA generally regards it as safe, chronic inhalation exposure to this chemical has detrimental effects. It can irritate and damage the lungs and eyes and may be more harmful for people with chronic lung diseases like asthma and emphysema.
Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula CH₂O. It is a colorless, strong-smelling gas used in making building materials and many household products. It is used in pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood, and fiberboard; glues and adhesives; permanent-press fabrics; paper product coatings; and certain insulation materials. Chronic exposure to formaldehyde is incredibly harmful, as it is a known carcinogen. In fact, in an multi-decade analysis of workers exposed to formaldehyde on a daily basis, formaldehyde was linked to both higher incidence rates and mortality rates of myeloid leukemia (a type of cancer found in blood and bone marrow).
Acetaldehyde: Acetaldehyde is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH₃CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO. It is a key raw material in the production of a wide range of chemical products such as paint binders in alkyd paints and as a plasticizer for plastics. Acetaldehyde is also used in the production of construction materials, fire retardant paints and explosives. Acetaldehyde is another known carcinogen, with chronic exposure both increasing the rate at which colon cancer cells metastasize/spread and decreasing the time it takes for tumors to double in size, both potentially deadly complications.
Acrolein: Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colourless liquid with a piercing, acrid smell with the formula C3H4O. It is mostly used to make acrylic acid. It is also used to control plant and algae growth in irrigation canals. Acrolein kills or controls microorganisms and bacteria in oil wells, liquid hydrocarbon fuels, cooling-water towers and water treatment ponds. In papermaking, acrolein is used to control slime. Chronic exposure to this chemical through vaping has serious implications, as acrolein can exert toxic effects following inhalation, oral, and dermal exposures. It is a potent irritant to the mucous membranes. At high concentrations, it can also cause irritation to skin. As such, its toxicity is exerted at the point of contact with tissues. Signs and symptoms resulting from chronic inhalation exposure to acrolein also include irritation of the nose, throat and lungs, pulmonary edema, lung hemorrhage, and death. The nasal tissues appear to be the most sensitive target of inhalation exposure, with onset of noticeable irritation occurring in seconds.
Long term vaping also leaves students at risk to heart disease and other cardiac complications. This is because e-cigarette vapor, over a long period of time, stiffens blood vessels within the body, restricting blood flow. One study utilized mice to simulate the effects of long term vaping on humans. They placed the animals in a chamber filled with e-cigarette vapor for four hours daily. They continued this for eight months. The exposures these mice got was no higher than what an average vaper now experiences. Mice live for two to three years. So their eight months of vaping was about the same as 20 years of vaping by a human.
After the full duration of this exposure, the researchers measured the stiffness of a primary artery running from the heart into the lower chest. They found that mice exposed to the vapors had arteries that were 2.5 times stiffer than normal. This is attributable to the nicotine within e-cigarettes. Nicotine and cigarette smoke stimulate the formation of rosettes (or clusters of invasive chemicals such as the ones listed above) on the surface of cells. The rosettes act like drills to bore through a scaffolding that protects vascular cells in the heart. The result can be atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, a common cause of heart attacks and other dangerous heart conditions.
Furthermore, long term e-cigarette use has been linked to increased wound healing time. Now, it's obvious that vaping can cause wounds in the body. Inhaling a heated substance directly down into your lungs is bound to cause sores, rashes, and burns. Cells in the body always face constant damage from foreign substances. Most times, nothing bad happens to their host. That’s because the body has a system in place to heal itself. Most major organs have special cells — fibroblasts — that repair damaged or injured tissue. Fibroblasts make up the connective tissues that keep organs in place. When the body is injured, these cells morph into wound-healers.
When exposed to the flavoring of these vape products, however, the fibroblast's ability to heal wounds is impaired. Why? Well, the flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes impairs the fibroblasts access to energy. Take cinnamaldehyde, the flavoring found in cinnamon flavored e-liquid. When inhaled, the cinnamaldehyde binds to the mitochondria (the structure that generates energy) inside the fibroblast, preventing the mitochondria from producing energy, and disallowing the cilia in the cell from moving, ultimately inhibiting the fibroblast's ability to bind together and heal wounds. This has been seen empirically as well, with sores and burns students experience from vaping being slower to heal than normal.
Lastly, e-cigarettes contain many different heavy metals that are incredibly toxic to the human body, making long term usage of vape products very hazardous. The metals present in high enough concentrations in e-cigarettes to cause serious damage are chromium, nickel, lead, manganese, arsenic, and zinc. This is because when all e-cigarettes heat the e-liquid inside them to release nicotine, they do so using a metallic coil, which is typically made of the aforementioned metals.
Zinc: Zinc is used in alloys such as brass, nickel silver and aluminum solder. Now, while zinc is generally regarded as a substance that is beneficial to the body, overexposure to this metal has its fair share of consequences. Zinc overexposure may cause the flu-like symptoms of metal fume fever; stomach and intestinal disturbances; and/or liver dysfunction.
Manganese: Manganese is used as a purifying agent in the production of several metals. Symptoms associated with overexposure to manganese may include damage to the central nervous system and pneumonia. Additional symptoms and physical findings include weakness, fatigue, confusion, hallucinations, odd or awkward manner of walking (gait), muscle spasms (dystonia), rigidity of the trunk, stiffness, awkwardness of the limbs, tremors of the hands, and psychiatric abnormalities.
Nickel: Nickel is extensively used for making stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloy. Chronic exposure has been connected with increased risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological deficits, developmental deficits in childhood, and high blood pressure. Nickel exposure introduces free radicals which lead to oxidative damage and may also affect the kidneys and liver. Additionally, Nickel overexposure also may lead to breast cancer. How? Well, nickel is believed to bind to estrogen receptors and mimic the actions of estrogen. It is well established that lifetime estrogen exposure is a breast cancer risk factor, and, unfortunately, even this “imposter estrogen” contributes to the risk.
Chromium: Chromium is used in the manufacture of cars, glass, pottery and linoleum. When the body is exposed to chromium through e-vapor, chromium is able to permeate the cell membrane inside the lung. Stabilization of the pentavelent form of chromium (the form found in e-cigarettes) is carried out by glutathione and hence intracellular reduction of Cr is considered a detoxification mechanism to purify the body of toxic metals. The reactions between Cr(VI) and biological reductants like thiols and ascorbate result in the production of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide ion, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical (all of which are incredibly toxic to the body), ultimately leading to oxidative stress in the cell causing damage to DNA and proteins.
Exposure to too much chromium in the long term may cause lung and respiratory tract cancer as well as kidney diseases. In addition, overexposure to chromium may also cause gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting, often with blood. Symptoms may lead to severe water-electrolyte disorders, increased mild acidity of blood and body tissues (acidosis), and/or inadequate blood flow to its tissues resulting in shock. Lesions on the kidneys, liver, and muscular layer of the heart (myocardium) may also develop.
Arsenic: Arsenic is used in the manufacture of pesticides. The gas from arsenic also has some industrial uses. When someone inhales the vapor of a vape product, the arsenic inside the lungs begins to react and gets methylated (or, essentially "cleansed") by bacteria to give monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). In this biotransformation process, these inorganic arsenic species (iAs) are converted enzymetically to methylated arsenicals which are the end metabolites and the biomarker of chronic arsenic exposure. In simpler terms, the arsenic in e-cigarette vapor reacts inside the body according to this equation.
As(V) → iAs(III) → MMA(V) → MMA(III) → DMA(V)
Biomethylation (the reaction shown above) is a detoxification process and end products are methylated inorganic arsenic such as MMA (V) and DMA (V) (as seen above), which are excreted through urine. However MMA (III) is not excreted and remains inside the cells of the body as an intermediate product. MMA (III) is incredibly toxic and is responsible for the symptoms of arsenic poisoning. The more someone vapes, the more MMA(III) builds up inside the body over time, eventually leading to chronic arsenic poisoning. Overexposure may cause headaches, drowsiness, confusion, seizures, and life-threatening complications. Neurological symptoms include brain damage (encephalopathy), nerve disease of the extremities (peripheral neuropathy), pericapillary hemorrhages within the white matter, and loss or deficiency of the fatty coverings (myelin) around these nerve fibers (demyelination). Skin problems include transverse white bands on the fingernails (mees’ lines) and excessive accumulation of fluid in the soft layers of tissue below the skin (edema). Gastrointestinal symptoms include a flu-like illness (gastroenteritis) that is characterized by vomiting; abdominal pain; fever; and diarrhea, which, in some cases, may be bloody. Other symptoms include breakdown of the hemoglobin of red blood cells (hemolysis), a low level of iron in the red blood cells (anemia), and low blood pressure (hypotension).
Lead: Lead is widely used for car batteries, pigments, ammunition, cable sheathing, weights for lifting, lead crystal glass and radiation protection. It is also often used to store corrosive liquids. The effects of lead poisoning are far more widely known than that of the other metals on this list, with many areas around the world suffering from high lead levels, such as Flint, Michigan. The effects of chronic inhalation exposure are less known, however. Every time a student inhales the lead inside an e-cigarette, two things happen.
First and foremost, the lead introduces dangerous free radicals (which are atoms with an unpaired valence electron, making them incredibly reactive) into the body, which react and destabilize metabolic processes inside the body, causing oxidative stress. This causes lipid peroxidation, since the free radical collects electron from lipid molecules present inside the cell membrane, which eventually causes lipid peroxidation, causing structural damage at the cellular level. At high concentrations, this may cause structural damage to cells, proteins, nucleic acid, membranes and lipids, resulting in a stressed situation at cellular level
The second way in which lead from e-cigarettes harms the body is due to the fact that lead metal ions to replace other bivalent cations like Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+ and monovalent cations like Na+, which also disturbs the biological metabolism of the cell. The ionic mechanism of lead toxicity causes significant changes in various biological processes such as cell adhesion, intra- and inter-cellular signaling, protein folding, maturation, apoptosis, ionic transportation, enzyme regulation, and release of neurotransmitters.
Physical symptoms of these two effects include fever, headaches, fatigue, sluggishness (lethargy), vomiting, loss of appetite (anorexia), abdominal pain, constipation, and joint pain. In addition to these symptoms, many psychological impacts also manifest from chronic lead exposure, including the loss of recently acquired skills, incoordination, listlessness, difficulty sleeping (insomnia), irritability, altered consciousness, hallucinations, seizures, low levels of iron in the red blood cells (anemia), peripheral neuropathy (weakness due to nerve damage), and, in some cases, brain damage (encephalopathy). It is important to note that these symptoms are magnified on a developing mind, as developing brains are more susceptible to the changes that lead poisoning brings. This makes the fact that teens are the primary users of e-cigarettes even more grave, as all of the aforementioned symptoms affect them far more.
What is important to note, however, is that, although these metals seem incredibly dangerous, vape products typically do not contain some of these in extremely high concentrations. So these symptoms are not guaranteed to manifest after chronic vaping, although that also does not mean that they are completely harmless either. While it is unclear what exactly long term vaping does to the body, is it worth risking all of the aforementioned symptoms for a buzz?
TL;DR Vaping carries many short term harms, including but not limited to allergic reactions and explosions, both of which may be fatal. The long term effects include exposure to many dangerous chemicals, such as formaldehyde, stiffening blood vessels (which is a cause of heart disease), longer wound healing time, and exposure to many toxic chemicals such as lead and chromium.
-AB
_________________________________________________________________________
Belluz, Julia. “Juul, the Vape Device Teens Are Getting Hooked on, Explained.” Vox, Vox, 1 May 2018, www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/1/17286638/juul-vaping-e-cigarette.
Weisbaum, Herb. “What's Causing Some E-Cigarette Batteries to Explode?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 24 Feb. 2016, www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/what-s-causing-some-e-cigarette-batteries-explode-n533516.
McMillen, Matt. “What's in Your E-Cigarette?” WebMD, WebMD, 18 Feb. 2015, www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20150218/e-cigarette-ingredients.
“Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk.” National Cancer Institute, National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-fact-sheet.
Anmen, Brent. “The Effect of Acute and Chronic Exposure to Acetaldehyde-a Mutagenic Metabolite of Dietary Ethanol-on Prostate Cancer Cells: A Potential Source of Race Disparity Disfavoring Black Men. .” Scholars@Duke, Journal of Clinical Oncology , Feb. 2012, scholars.duke.edu/display/pub1175639.
Plewak, DJ. “Acrolein Health Effects.” Syracuse Research Corporation, Journal of Toxicology and Industrial Health, 2008, citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.823.8371.
Prabhune, Meenakshi. “Vaping May Stiffen the Heart and Blood Vessels.” Science News for Students, Science News for Students, 14 Nov. 2017, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/vaping-may-stiffen-heart-and-blood-vessels.
“Scientist Raises a Red Flag About E-Cigarettes and Heart Attack Risk.” Healthline, Healthline Media, www.healthline.com/health-news/heart-e-cigarettes-and-heart-attack-risk-121513.
Konkel, Lindsey. “Concerns Explode over New Health Risks of Vaping.” Science News for Students, Science News for Students, 13 Apr. 2018, www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/concerns-explode-over-new-health-risks-vaping.
Olmedo, Pablo. “Metal Concentrations in e-Cigarette Liquid and Aerosol Samples: The Contribution of Metallic Coils.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Feb. 2018, ehp.niehs.nih.gov/ehp2175/.
“Heavy Metal Poisoning.” NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders), National Organization for Rare Disorders, rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/heavy-metal-poisoning/.
Jaishankar, Monisha, et al. “Toxicity, Mechanism and Health Effects of Some Heavy Metals.” Advances in Pediatrics., U.S. National Library of Medicine, June 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4427717/.
Dabfm, et al. “Metal Toxicity: Health Dangers of Nickel.” Dr. Group's Healthy Living Articles, Global Healing Center, Inc, 9 Oct. 2015, www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/metal-toxicity-health-dangers-nickel/.
To start, there are a few short term harms of vaping that should deter those interested. One such harm is the possibility of potentially deadly side effects. These come in the forms of allergic reactions, where the body, being unused to the vapor and chemicals in the lungs, reacts negatively, often causing serious complications. One such instance of this is An 18-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis, also known as “wet lung,” a few weeks after taking up vaping. The chemicals in the e-cigarettes, the doctors hypothesized, caused an allergic reaction in her lungs that led to respiratory failure and forced her on to a breathing machine until her lungs recovered. Stories like this point towards the extreme risks of taking up vaping, as even though many claim these products are generally safer than cigarettes, the possibility of potentially deadly complications is ever constant.
Another short term risk associated with e-cigarette products is the risk of the device exploding. This can happen when the lithium battery used to power the device fails. The lithium-ion batteries used to power e-cig vaporizers are small and powerful. Thus, when they fail, the results can be disastrous We’ve seen that with cellphones, laptops and most recently, hoverboards. Extreme temperatures — below 50 degrees or above 115 — can cause some lithium-ion batteries to malfunction. Thankfully, these mishaps don’t happen very often, but when an e-cigarette battery malfunctions, the injuries can be horrendous — burns on the hands and face, fractured bones and loss of eyesight. Additionally, significant tissue damage to the mouth, hands, or tendons can occur.
 |
| As shown, the lithium batteries in vape products have the potential to fail, causing the entire product to combust and quickly cause damage to the user. |
Now, although the short term harms of vaping seem grave, the long term harms are far worse. The first harm of long term vape product usage is chronic exposure to many different, dangerous chemicals. The main chemicals I will discuss are propylene glycol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein.
Propylene Glycol: Propylene glycol is a synthetic organic compound with the chemical formula C₃H₈O₂. It is a viscous, colorless liquid which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. It is a liquid alcohol that is used as a solvent, in antifreeze, and in the food, plastics, and perfume industries. While the FDA generally regards it as safe, chronic inhalation exposure to this chemical has detrimental effects. It can irritate and damage the lungs and eyes and may be more harmful for people with chronic lung diseases like asthma and emphysema.
Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula CH₂O. It is a colorless, strong-smelling gas used in making building materials and many household products. It is used in pressed-wood products, such as particleboard, plywood, and fiberboard; glues and adhesives; permanent-press fabrics; paper product coatings; and certain insulation materials. Chronic exposure to formaldehyde is incredibly harmful, as it is a known carcinogen. In fact, in an multi-decade analysis of workers exposed to formaldehyde on a daily basis, formaldehyde was linked to both higher incidence rates and mortality rates of myeloid leukemia (a type of cancer found in blood and bone marrow).
Acetaldehyde: Acetaldehyde is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH₃CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO. It is a key raw material in the production of a wide range of chemical products such as paint binders in alkyd paints and as a plasticizer for plastics. Acetaldehyde is also used in the production of construction materials, fire retardant paints and explosives. Acetaldehyde is another known carcinogen, with chronic exposure both increasing the rate at which colon cancer cells metastasize/spread and decreasing the time it takes for tumors to double in size, both potentially deadly complications.
Acrolein: Acrolein (systematic name: propenal) is the simplest unsaturated aldehyde. It is a colourless liquid with a piercing, acrid smell with the formula C3H4O. It is mostly used to make acrylic acid. It is also used to control plant and algae growth in irrigation canals. Acrolein kills or controls microorganisms and bacteria in oil wells, liquid hydrocarbon fuels, cooling-water towers and water treatment ponds. In papermaking, acrolein is used to control slime. Chronic exposure to this chemical through vaping has serious implications, as acrolein can exert toxic effects following inhalation, oral, and dermal exposures. It is a potent irritant to the mucous membranes. At high concentrations, it can also cause irritation to skin. As such, its toxicity is exerted at the point of contact with tissues. Signs and symptoms resulting from chronic inhalation exposure to acrolein also include irritation of the nose, throat and lungs, pulmonary edema, lung hemorrhage, and death. The nasal tissues appear to be the most sensitive target of inhalation exposure, with onset of noticeable irritation occurring in seconds.
Long term vaping also leaves students at risk to heart disease and other cardiac complications. This is because e-cigarette vapor, over a long period of time, stiffens blood vessels within the body, restricting blood flow. One study utilized mice to simulate the effects of long term vaping on humans. They placed the animals in a chamber filled with e-cigarette vapor for four hours daily. They continued this for eight months. The exposures these mice got was no higher than what an average vaper now experiences. Mice live for two to three years. So their eight months of vaping was about the same as 20 years of vaping by a human.
 |
| An e-cigarette device attached to a tube pumps vapors into a lab chamber. Effects seen in mice suggest vaping poses a risk of heart disease. |
Furthermore, long term e-cigarette use has been linked to increased wound healing time. Now, it's obvious that vaping can cause wounds in the body. Inhaling a heated substance directly down into your lungs is bound to cause sores, rashes, and burns. Cells in the body always face constant damage from foreign substances. Most times, nothing bad happens to their host. That’s because the body has a system in place to heal itself. Most major organs have special cells — fibroblasts — that repair damaged or injured tissue. Fibroblasts make up the connective tissues that keep organs in place. When the body is injured, these cells morph into wound-healers.
 |
| Fibroblast cells (such as those seen here) repair damaged or injured tissues. The cells’ nuclei are colored blue. Their mitochondria are red. Filaments (green) help the fibroblast contract. |
Lastly, e-cigarettes contain many different heavy metals that are incredibly toxic to the human body, making long term usage of vape products very hazardous. The metals present in high enough concentrations in e-cigarettes to cause serious damage are chromium, nickel, lead, manganese, arsenic, and zinc. This is because when all e-cigarettes heat the e-liquid inside them to release nicotine, they do so using a metallic coil, which is typically made of the aforementioned metals.
 |
| As seen above, the median levels of toxic metals found in e-cigarettes exceeds the levels that are deemed “safe,” suggesting that long term exposure to these e-cigarettes could result in the accumulation of toxic metals inside the body, presenting a vast variety of symptoms. |
Zinc: Zinc is used in alloys such as brass, nickel silver and aluminum solder. Now, while zinc is generally regarded as a substance that is beneficial to the body, overexposure to this metal has its fair share of consequences. Zinc overexposure may cause the flu-like symptoms of metal fume fever; stomach and intestinal disturbances; and/or liver dysfunction.
Manganese: Manganese is used as a purifying agent in the production of several metals. Symptoms associated with overexposure to manganese may include damage to the central nervous system and pneumonia. Additional symptoms and physical findings include weakness, fatigue, confusion, hallucinations, odd or awkward manner of walking (gait), muscle spasms (dystonia), rigidity of the trunk, stiffness, awkwardness of the limbs, tremors of the hands, and psychiatric abnormalities.
Nickel: Nickel is extensively used for making stainless steel and other corrosion-resistant alloy. Chronic exposure has been connected with increased risk of lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological deficits, developmental deficits in childhood, and high blood pressure. Nickel exposure introduces free radicals which lead to oxidative damage and may also affect the kidneys and liver. Additionally, Nickel overexposure also may lead to breast cancer. How? Well, nickel is believed to bind to estrogen receptors and mimic the actions of estrogen. It is well established that lifetime estrogen exposure is a breast cancer risk factor, and, unfortunately, even this “imposter estrogen” contributes to the risk.
Chromium: Chromium is used in the manufacture of cars, glass, pottery and linoleum. When the body is exposed to chromium through e-vapor, chromium is able to permeate the cell membrane inside the lung. Stabilization of the pentavelent form of chromium (the form found in e-cigarettes) is carried out by glutathione and hence intracellular reduction of Cr is considered a detoxification mechanism to purify the body of toxic metals. The reactions between Cr(VI) and biological reductants like thiols and ascorbate result in the production of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide ion, hydrogen peroxide, and hydroxyl radical (all of which are incredibly toxic to the body), ultimately leading to oxidative stress in the cell causing damage to DNA and proteins.
Exposure to too much chromium in the long term may cause lung and respiratory tract cancer as well as kidney diseases. In addition, overexposure to chromium may also cause gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhea and vomiting, often with blood. Symptoms may lead to severe water-electrolyte disorders, increased mild acidity of blood and body tissues (acidosis), and/or inadequate blood flow to its tissues resulting in shock. Lesions on the kidneys, liver, and muscular layer of the heart (myocardium) may also develop.
Arsenic: Arsenic is used in the manufacture of pesticides. The gas from arsenic also has some industrial uses. When someone inhales the vapor of a vape product, the arsenic inside the lungs begins to react and gets methylated (or, essentially "cleansed") by bacteria to give monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA). In this biotransformation process, these inorganic arsenic species (iAs) are converted enzymetically to methylated arsenicals which are the end metabolites and the biomarker of chronic arsenic exposure. In simpler terms, the arsenic in e-cigarette vapor reacts inside the body according to this equation.
As(V) → iAs(III) → MMA(V) → MMA(III) → DMA(V)
Biomethylation (the reaction shown above) is a detoxification process and end products are methylated inorganic arsenic such as MMA (V) and DMA (V) (as seen above), which are excreted through urine. However MMA (III) is not excreted and remains inside the cells of the body as an intermediate product. MMA (III) is incredibly toxic and is responsible for the symptoms of arsenic poisoning. The more someone vapes, the more MMA(III) builds up inside the body over time, eventually leading to chronic arsenic poisoning. Overexposure may cause headaches, drowsiness, confusion, seizures, and life-threatening complications. Neurological symptoms include brain damage (encephalopathy), nerve disease of the extremities (peripheral neuropathy), pericapillary hemorrhages within the white matter, and loss or deficiency of the fatty coverings (myelin) around these nerve fibers (demyelination). Skin problems include transverse white bands on the fingernails (mees’ lines) and excessive accumulation of fluid in the soft layers of tissue below the skin (edema). Gastrointestinal symptoms include a flu-like illness (gastroenteritis) that is characterized by vomiting; abdominal pain; fever; and diarrhea, which, in some cases, may be bloody. Other symptoms include breakdown of the hemoglobin of red blood cells (hemolysis), a low level of iron in the red blood cells (anemia), and low blood pressure (hypotension).
Lead: Lead is widely used for car batteries, pigments, ammunition, cable sheathing, weights for lifting, lead crystal glass and radiation protection. It is also often used to store corrosive liquids. The effects of lead poisoning are far more widely known than that of the other metals on this list, with many areas around the world suffering from high lead levels, such as Flint, Michigan. The effects of chronic inhalation exposure are less known, however. Every time a student inhales the lead inside an e-cigarette, two things happen.
First and foremost, the lead introduces dangerous free radicals (which are atoms with an unpaired valence electron, making them incredibly reactive) into the body, which react and destabilize metabolic processes inside the body, causing oxidative stress. This causes lipid peroxidation, since the free radical collects electron from lipid molecules present inside the cell membrane, which eventually causes lipid peroxidation, causing structural damage at the cellular level. At high concentrations, this may cause structural damage to cells, proteins, nucleic acid, membranes and lipids, resulting in a stressed situation at cellular level
The second way in which lead from e-cigarettes harms the body is due to the fact that lead metal ions to replace other bivalent cations like Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+ and monovalent cations like Na+, which also disturbs the biological metabolism of the cell. The ionic mechanism of lead toxicity causes significant changes in various biological processes such as cell adhesion, intra- and inter-cellular signaling, protein folding, maturation, apoptosis, ionic transportation, enzyme regulation, and release of neurotransmitters.
Physical symptoms of these two effects include fever, headaches, fatigue, sluggishness (lethargy), vomiting, loss of appetite (anorexia), abdominal pain, constipation, and joint pain. In addition to these symptoms, many psychological impacts also manifest from chronic lead exposure, including the loss of recently acquired skills, incoordination, listlessness, difficulty sleeping (insomnia), irritability, altered consciousness, hallucinations, seizures, low levels of iron in the red blood cells (anemia), peripheral neuropathy (weakness due to nerve damage), and, in some cases, brain damage (encephalopathy). It is important to note that these symptoms are magnified on a developing mind, as developing brains are more susceptible to the changes that lead poisoning brings. This makes the fact that teens are the primary users of e-cigarettes even more grave, as all of the aforementioned symptoms affect them far more.
What is important to note, however, is that, although these metals seem incredibly dangerous, vape products typically do not contain some of these in extremely high concentrations. So these symptoms are not guaranteed to manifest after chronic vaping, although that also does not mean that they are completely harmless either. While it is unclear what exactly long term vaping does to the body, is it worth risking all of the aforementioned symptoms for a buzz?
TL;DR Vaping carries many short term harms, including but not limited to allergic reactions and explosions, both of which may be fatal. The long term effects include exposure to many dangerous chemicals, such as formaldehyde, stiffening blood vessels (which is a cause of heart disease), longer wound healing time, and exposure to many toxic chemicals such as lead and chromium.
-AB
_________________________________________________________________________
Belluz, Julia. “Juul, the Vape Device Teens Are Getting Hooked on, Explained.” Vox, Vox, 1 May 2018, www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/1/17286638/juul-vaping-e-cigarette.
Weisbaum, Herb. “What's Causing Some E-Cigarette Batteries to Explode?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 24 Feb. 2016, www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/what-s-causing-some-e-cigarette-batteries-explode-n533516.
McMillen, Matt. “What's in Your E-Cigarette?” WebMD, WebMD, 18 Feb. 2015, www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20150218/e-cigarette-ingredients.
“Formaldehyde and Cancer Risk.” National Cancer Institute, National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/substances/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-fact-sheet.
Anmen, Brent. “The Effect of Acute and Chronic Exposure to Acetaldehyde-a Mutagenic Metabolite of Dietary Ethanol-on Prostate Cancer Cells: A Potential Source of Race Disparity Disfavoring Black Men. .” Scholars@Duke, Journal of Clinical Oncology , Feb. 2012, scholars.duke.edu/display/pub1175639.
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