E-cigarettes are marketed as a safer alternative to tobacco cigarettes, and flavorings such as Cotton Candy and Cupcake draw in a younger demographic of users. However, a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health links more than 75 percent of the flavored electronic cigarettes and refill liquids tested to severe respiratory disease.
Though e-cigarettes have the reputation of being the lesser of two evils when it comes to smoking cigarettes — one study from Public Health England published on Aug. 19, 2015, even lauds them as "95% less harmful than tobacco" and as a viable option to help cigarette smokers quit — recent research has emerged that may prove otherwise.
According to a press release from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, a study published on Dec. 8, 2015, reveals that researchers have found diacetyl, a flavoring chemical, in a vast majority of e-cigarettes and refill liquids. Diacetyl is associated with the debilitating lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans, commonly known as "Popcorn Lung" because the first cases appeared in workers who inhaled artificial butter flavoring in microwave popcorn plants. The condition is characterized by inflammation and the formation of scar tissue in the lungs, which results in the narrowing of airways, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has issued warnings regarding flavorings-related lung disease in the past.
David Christiani, study co-author and Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics at Harvard, warns in the press release:
“Since most of the health concerns about e-cigarettes have focused on nicotine, there is still much we do not know about e-cigarettes. In addition to containing varying levels of the addictive substance nicotine, they also contain other cancer-causing chemicals, such as formaldehyde, and as our study shows, flavoring chemicals that can cause lung damage.”
In December 2015, Discovery News reported that approximately 10 percent of adults in the U.S. smoke e-cigarettes, and 22 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 admit to trying e-cigarettes.