Published on
Updated
Reading 2 mins.
in collaboration with
Liath Guetta (pulmonologist)
Medical validation:
April 13, 2023
Faced with the worrying results of a study carried out on menthol flavors, experts are calling for a ban on menthol vapes, which are considered to be much more toxic to the lungs.
Are menthol vapes more dangerous to health than banana or strawberry flavored ones? Yes, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). This research team has indeed discovered that electronic cigarettes containing menthol generate many more toxic microparticles than others.
Real lung damage
To verify this theory, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh compared the vapor given off by menthol and non-menthol vapers in a lab.
Specifically, the team analyzed the lungs of 94 participants: 25 who used menthol e-cigarettes and 69 “vapers“, fans of other flavors.
This is how they discovered that electronic cigarettes containing menthol generated many more toxic microparticles than varieties without menthol. Menthol additives thus appeared to cause lung damage in users of e-cigarettes and menthol vapers.
Additionally, users of menthol e-cigarettes seemed to have a harder time breathing: their lungs weren’t able to expel as much air as those who vaped other flavors.
The addition of mint flavor to e-cigarette liquids would therefore be associated, according to the team of scientists, with a deterioration in lung function.
“Many people, especially young people, mistakenly assume that vaping is safe, but even nicotine-free vaping mixes contain many compounds that can potentially damage the lungs.“, recalled the study’s lead author, Kambez H. Benam.
The vapoteuse remains less worse than the cigarette
Conclusions of common sense, according to Dr. Guetta, who nevertheless specifies that the more pronounced dangerousness of the “vapoteuse à la mint” is not a known fact.
“Anything that is inhaled that is not pure air is not good for the lungs. And the vaper is one of them. Fat particles from the liquid will indeed accumulate in the lungs.“, warns Dr. Guetta. “Nevertheless, vapers remain less dangerous than cigarettes. This is why we recommend that addicted patients switch to this substitute to gradually quit smoking.”
The specialist obviously recommends that non-smokers never let themselves be “tempted” by vapers, which remain extremely harmful to health.