According to research published in the journal Tobacco Control, electronic cigarettes, which have been the leading form of nicotine consumption among young people in the country since 2014, have surpassed all tobacco consumption combined as of 2019.
Scientists based the study on 1607 young people aged 13-17 between December 2018 and November 2019 to examine whether toxic metal levels in the blood are related to the frequency of e-cigarette use and e-cigarette aroma.
In the final analysis, urine samples from 200 young people who used e-cigarettes were tested for cadmium, lead and uranium.
While use of 1-5 days in a month is called “rarely”, 6-19 days is called “intermittent” and more than 20 days is called “frequent use”, 65 of the young people report rare use, 45 say intermittent use, 81 say frequent use, and 9 of them report frequent use. He did not report frequency of use.
While electronic cigarette flavors are divided into 4 categories called “menthol-mint”, “fruit”, “sweet” and “others containing tobacco, clove, spice, alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage flavors”, 33 percent of young people choose menthol and 50 percent choose fruit. , 15 percent stated that they preferred sweet and 2 percent preferred other flavors.
Urine samples tested showed that lead levels were 40 percent higher in youth who reported intermittent use than in youth who reported infrequent use, and 30 percent higher in youth who reported frequent use.
While it was determined that uranium levels in the urine were twice as high in young people who frequently used electronic cigarettes compared to young people who rarely used them, no significant difference was found between the frequency of use or flavor type and the cadmium level in the urine.
On the other hand, it was determined that uranium levels in the urine of those who preferred sweet flavors were 90 percent higher than those who preferred menthol/mint flavors.
Scientists pointed out that their study was an observation-based study and noted that no definitive conclusion could be drawn between toxic metal levels and e-cigarette smoking frequency and flavors.
Emphasizing that these metals are known to harm people, the researchers said, “E-cigarette use in adolescence may increase the likelihood of exposure to metals, which may adversely affect brain and organ development.” he said.
Referring to previous studies showing that exposure to metals such as lead and uranium detected in e-cigarette aerosols and liquids, especially during developmental periods, is linked to cognitive impairment, behavioral disorders, respiratory complications, cancer and cardiovascular diseases in young people, scientists said that the study findings should be supported by further studies. He called for regulation of e-cigarette products and targeted public health studies on the possible harms of e-cigarette use, especially by young people. (AA)
