Using certain electronic cigarettes at high temperature settings could potentially release more formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical, than smoking traditional cigarettes does, new lab tests suggest.
The research does not prove a health risk — it involved limited testing on just one brand of e-cigarettes and was done in test tubes, not people. It also does not mean e-cigarettes are better or worse than regular ones; tobacco smoke contains dozens of things that can cause cancer.
But it does highlight how little is known about the safety of e-cigarettes — battery-powered devices that heat liquid to deliver nicotine in a vapor rather than from burning tobacco.
"It's a potential red flag," one independent expert — Stephen Hecht, a chemist and tobacco researcher at the University of Minnesota — said of the study. "Under some conditions, e-cigarettes might be generating more formaldehyde than you'd want to be exposed to. But I don't think we know enough yet. There's a huge variety in the makeup of these cigarettes and how they are used."
The study was published Wednesday as a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine. The journal said it had been reviewed by experts in the field.
Not just for kids?
Vaccines are not just for children.
Adults need them as well.
Physicians say most people are not really aware of which ones they need other than the flu vaccine.
For example, most adults should get a Tetanus booster shot every ten years.
Adults also should get a vaccine they did not have as a child or because they developed a medical condition.
"There are a couple of different ways, if you are not sure if you've had a vaccine and you can't get your records talk to your provider and in general the rule is you should go ahead and get the vaccine," said Carolyn Bridges/M.D Asst. Dir. Adult Immunization, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention. "For some vaccines you can have a blood test and you can talk with your provider about that and it can tell you if you are already immune or if you already have protection."