Experts warn of long-term effects of e-cigarettes
ISTANBUL
With the young generation increasingly using e-cigarettes, advertised by the tobacco industry as “less harmful than traditional cigarettes,” experts are concerned about the long-term repercussions of these devices, which remain poorly understood and could pose unforeseen risks.
“We know the contents of traditional cigarettes; however, those of the e-cigarettes remain unknown. Regretfully, tobacco has been discovered even in e-cigarettes that are said to contain none,” Associate Professor Pelin Duru Çetinkaya pointed out. “They are loaded with toxic chemicals and flavors, such as benzenes, nitrosamines and other hazardous chemicals that might cause cancer.”
She further added that these e-cigarettes are deliberately released with flavors such as strawberry and banana to make them more appealing to the young generation.
“However, we do not really know what harm these flavors cause to the lungs,” she said, further recalling that the World Health Organization officially recognized e-cigarette or vaping product use–associated lung injury (EVALI).
Although there are only 2,800 recognized cases of this illness worldwide, Çetinkaya says they believe that the actual number is much higher.
“Pneumonia typically develops even if a small strawberry fragment enters the lungs. In this case, many unknown chemicals enter the lungs,” she said. “We are aware of the short-term consequences of these e-cigarettes, but its long-term effects are still emerging.”
Echoing Çetinkaya’s sentiments on the matter, Pediatric Chest Diseases physician Professor Dr. Elif Dağlı also drew attention to the harmful effects of the indeterminate content of e-cigarettes.
“People fill e-cigarettes with any liquid they choose. Nobody asks any questions on the matter or knows what they are at all,” she said. “They frequently contain nicotine, and many also contain cannabis. Although they are illegal in our nation, we can nevertheless see them being marketed and sold online.”
E-cigarettes can cause heart arrhythmia, tachycardia and heart attacks stemming from abrupt surges in nicotine, in addition to all the other health issues associated with smoking, most notably cancer.
