Vaping at an early age increases exposure to toxic metals, which could harm the development of the brain and other organs, so regulations should protect the young population against this addiction. This is how forceful American researchers are in their report, which has confirmed that adolescents who vape have more uranium and lead in their urine than those who do not and that the levels of these toxic metals are higher the more frequent the use of cigarettes. electronics.
The study, published last Tuesday in the journal Tobacco Control, was based on one of the most important studies on tobacco and youth health in the United States in which 1,607 adolescents between 13 and 17 years old participated, 200 of them exclusive smokers. of electronic cigarettes, from which urine samples were analyzed for the presence of cadmium, lead and uranium. And the results of these analyzes showed that both frequent vapers (more than 20 days a month) and intermittent vapers (between 6 and 19 (days a month)) had higher levels of lead and uranium than occasional vapers (between 1 and 5 days a month).
Users of vaping products with sweet flavors were also found to have higher levels of uranium than those who preferred menthol flavors.
The authors of the study emphasize that previous studies have already proven that exposure to these toxic metals from aerosols and liquids from electronic cigarettes is related to cognitive impairment, behavioral disorders, respiratory complications, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and is especially harmful during development.
“The WHO determined that lead is one of the 10 most dangerous chemicals for public health and that requires the intervention of States to protect their citizens; It is distributed throughout the body until it reaches the brain, liver, kidneys and bones, where it is deposited and can accumulate over time," explains Andrés Zamorano, head of the smoking group at the Spanish Society of General Physicians and Family (SEMG) and member of the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT).
It emphasizes that the consequences of lead exposure are especially serious and permanent in children because it can affect the development of the brain and nervous system. And hence, he says, the worrying aspect of its presence in vaping products, whose use and consumption has grown a lot among children and adolescents also in Spain. “Surveys of 13-year-old kids indicate that 31.4% of them have had contact with electronic cigarettes at some point in their lives, 26.8% have used them in the last year and 14.5% in the last month; and in the 14 to 18 age group (which is what the ESTUDES survey analyzes), these percentages rise to 54.6%, 46% and 26%, respectively,” details Dr. Zamorano.
And he highlights the contradiction of eliminating lead from gasoline or paint due to its harmful effects on health and instead allowing this toxic substance to be present in electronic cigarettes and vaping devices “which are sold without restriction and even They are given to children as a gift when they make their first communion.”
In this regard, it stands out that the American study shows a worrying fact that may affect younger consumers: uranium levels in urine were 90% higher among those who choose sweet flavors. “Uranium is a radioactive substance that, when inhaled, can produce a local cytotoxic effect (damage to cells), which has kidney toxicity and, as with lead, there are no safe exposure thresholds,” says Zamorano.
And he expresses his confidence that, within the framework of the new Comprehensive Anti-Tobacco Plan approved last Tuesday by the Spanish Government, research on the effects of electronic cigarettes on health will be intensified (“it would be necessary to see if these toxic substances, in addition to urine are in the blood, for example,” he says) and its regulation is equated to that of tobacco products, both in terms of where they can be sold and where they can be consumed or plain packaging.
