Electronic cigarettes – as safe as we thought?
Recent studies concluded that the use of electronic cigarettes are damaging to the lungs, despite perceptions that electronic cigarettes are harmless.
Weekly newspaper Illum takes a look at the increasingly-popular electronic cigarettes that are starting to overtake conventional cigarettes due to their lack of smelly smoke, and the perception that they contain less chemicals and are thus safer to smoke.
However, Illum reports that recent studies concluded that electronic cigarettes are not as safe as many assume they are. The studies conclude that electronic cigarettes are nevertheless damaging to one's lungs, and be it first hand smoke and second-hand smoke.
Professor Christina Gratziou, one of the authors of the research and who sits on the Tobacco Control Committee was reported as saying that "we found an immediate resistance within the participants of the study to air passing through them. This indicates that electronic cigarettes could cause damage immediately after use."
The results of the study were presented in the Annual Congress of the European Respiratory Association in Vienna.
The Illum also considers how electronic cigarettes have become more and more popular in Malta, and also discusses whether these are safe (and ethical!) to smoke at work around colleagues.
Read more in today's issue of the Illum.