Ever since electronic cigarettes hit the market as an alternative to smoking real cigarettes, it was only a matter of time before the method would also be considered bad for you. Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health has released a study that proves toxic chemicals are released when heating the coils in a vape pen.
Researchers sampled 56 vape devices from real life vape smokers - not newer models that aren't subject to the same toxins - that proved heating up substances in plastic is actually very bad for you. They found that the liquid in the e-cigarette, the liquid in the pen's chamber and the overall vapor itself releases carcinogens including chromium, lead, nickel and arsenic.
As many know, these chemicals are linked to lung cancer and respiratory disease - the same effects that come from smoking cigarettes. It's important to note that the liquid inside the pen is fine to start, it's once the liquid makes its way to the dispenser and is heated up where it becomes toxic.
"It’s important for the FDA, the e-cigarette companies, and vapers themselves to know that these heating coils, as currently made, seem to be leaking toxic metals—which then get into the aerosols that vapers inhale," Ana María Rule, PhD, MHS, an assistant scientist in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Environmental Health and Engineering said.