THE HSE has issued an urgent warning to vapers after it was discovered there is “almost a certainty” they can cause deadly illness.
It has emerged that long-term vape use will lead to future cancer diagnoses and cardiovascular problems.
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A Professor of Chemistry at Royal College of Surgeons Ireland has said that cancer is now “almost a certainty” from long-term exposure to vapes.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Colm Ó Mongáin, Professor Dónal O’Shea said that new research has shown that flavoured vapes contain toxic compounds once heated.
The research was conducted by the RCSI using artificial intelligence.
Prof O’Shea warned that a new “scourge” is being seen among young people who have taken up vaping, despite some never smoking beforehand.
He claimed the rise in vaping will “inevitably” cause new illnesses to emerge.
He said: “We find there are very toxic compounds being predicted, being formed, some of them have been experimentally detected before.
“So really, in essence, if you think out into the future for prolonged, long-term exposure of lungs to this we are going to see new diseases emerge in the futures.
“Cancer, cardiovascular diseases and injuries to lungs. It’s almost a certainty.”
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Prof O’Shea also noted that several flavours currently available on the market should be limited in order to restrict the amount of chemicals in vapes.
He said that fruit and candy flavours are more dangerous than others and “urgent attention” should be brought to them, especially among the younger generation.
HSE warning
The HSE has said that if you have never smoked cigarettes, vaping offers “no health benefit”.
They state: “If you do not smoke, do not start vaping.”
They have warned that nicotine is a “dangerous and addictive chemical.”
For those who vape and smoke cigarettes, the HSE says that while vaping may be less harmful, it is not harm-free and they recommend to not do both at the same time.
The HSE does not recommend vaping as an alternative to smoking, and recommends that anyone looking to quit who has chosen to vape instead either gets support from a stop smoking advisor, GP or pharmacist or use licensed stop smoking medicines.
Both nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or prescription treatments from your GP have been proven to be safe and effective.
The HSE says the risks now associated with long-term vaping include nicotine dependence, injuries – for example, from defective e-cigarette batteries, poisoning and exposure to toxins and changes to how your heart, lungs and other organs normally work.
They state: “Over time these risks may cause diseases such as heart disease, lung disease and cancer.”
The toxic chemicals
Prof O’Shea said that heating the different flavours to a high temperature can cause a single chemical breaking into 10-20 different compounds.
He said: “You don’t need to be a medical doctor to see the dangers that are here.
“In any flavoured vape there could be anywhere from half a dozen to 20 different chemicals to make up that commercial flavour.
“Then you have all the hidden breakdown products that are being formed as well. So, this is a huge cocktail of unknown chemicals.
“I think your risk of disease will be significantly higher and we will see this developing in ten to 15 years’ time.”
The RSCI research team looked into 180 different chemical flavours using AI to see what happens when they are heated.
O’Shea said: “We are confident in the results of the study and they mirror experimental work carried out by others.
“Using artificial intelligence, we can look at the entirety of all the different flavours that are being used and predict what’s going to happen.
“We can then follow up with experimental evidence at a later stage, but we can get a good insight into what is occurring in these devices and be able to understand what medical impacts will come down the line.”
