Lately, the electronic cigarette has gained popularity in smokers trying to quit, thinking they get the hit of nicotine they need without the accompanied chemicals that are found in a real cigarette. They consider them to be the healthy substitute to a cigarette. But it does not seem that way.

A recent study in Japan found that e-cigarettes contain 10 times as much cancer-causing ingredients than the regular cigarette. The research commissioned by the Japanese Ministry of Health found formaldehyde and acetaldehyde carcinogens in the liquid produced by a number of e-cigarette products.

They also found that e-cigarettes can fuel potentially life-threatening drug-resistant pathogens. This is based on lab study where they tested e-cigs vapor on live methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and human cells.

“In one brand of e-cigarette the team found more than 10 times the level of carcinogens contained in one regular cigarette,” said researcher Naoki Kunugita.

“Especially when the wire (which vaporizes the liquid) gets overheated, higher amounts of those harmful substances seemed to be produced.”

Kunugita added that the levels of the formaldehyde carcinogen fluctuated in the final results.

“You call them e-cigarettes, but they are products totally different from regular tobacco,” the Japanese health ministry official said.

“The government is now studying the possible risks associated with them, with view to looking at how they should be regulated.”

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged governments to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors because of the “serious threat” posed to them.

The UN health agency said that despite the lack of evidence on the damage caused by e-cigarettes, there was enough “to caution children and adolescents, pregnant women, and women of reproductive age” about their use, adding that they should be outlawed from indoor public spaces.

Source: OrganicHealth.co