E-cigarettes are less toxic and safer to use compared to conventional cigarettes, according to research published in Annals of Internal Medicine.Cancer Research UK-funded scientists found that people who swapped smoking regular cigarettes for e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for at least six months, had much lower levels of toxic and cancer causing substances in their body than people who continued to use conventional cigarettes.For the first time, researchers analysed the saliva and urine of long-term e-cigarette and NRT users, as well as smokers, and compared body-level exposure to key chemicals.Ex-smokers who switched to e-cigarettes or NRT had significantly lower levels of toxic chemicals and carcinogens in their body compared to people who continued to smoke tobacco cigarettes.But, those who used e-cigarettes or NRT while continuing to smoke, did not show the same marked differences, highlighting that a complete switch is needed to reduce exposure to toxins.Dr Lion Shahab, senior lecturer in the department of epidemiology and public health at UCL, and lead author of the publication, said: "Our study adds to existing evidence showing that e-cigarettes and NRT are far safer than smoking, and suggests that there is a very low risk associated with their long-term use.

"We've shown that the levels of toxic chemicals in the body from e-cigarettes are considerably lower than suggested in previous studies using simulated experiments.This means some doubts about the safety of e-cigarettes may be wrong."Our results also suggest that while e-cigarettes are not only safer, the amount of nicotine they provide is not noticeably different to conventional cigarettes.This can help people to stop smoking altogether by dealing with their cravings in a safer way."Alison Cox, Cancer Research UK's director of cancer prevention, said: "Around a third of tobacco-caused deaths are due to cancer, so we want to see many more of the UK's 10 million smokers break their addiction.""This study adds to growing evidence that e-cigarettes are a much safer alternative to tobacco, and suggests the long term effects of these products will be minimal."Understanding and communicating the benefits of nicotine replacements, such as e-cigarettes, is an important step towards reducing the number of tobacco-related deaths here in the UK."

Journal Reference: Lion Shahab, Maciej L. Goniewicz, Benjamin C. Blount, Jamie Brown, Ann McNeill, K. Udeni Alwis, June Feng, Lanqing Wang, Robert West.Nicotine, Carcinogen, and Toxin Exposure in Long-Term E-Cigarette and Nicotine Replacement Therapy Users.Annals of Internal Medicine, 2017; DOI: 10.7326/M16-1107 Cite This Page: MLA APA Chicagoe cigarette orionSmokers who switch to e-cigarettes can substantially reduce their intake of toxic chemicals and carcinogens, a new study reports —  but only if they completely quit smoking tobacco.“Our study shows that bodily level exposure to established and important smoking-related carcinogens and toxicants is reduced by between 56 percent to 97 percent in long-term e-cigarette users who have stopped smoking completely, compared with tobacco cigarette smokers,” said lead researcher Lion Shahab.Smokers who switched entirely to e-cigarettes cut their intake of toxins and carcinogens as much as those who quit smoking by using nicotine replacements like the patch, gum or lozenges, said Shahab.avis ecigarette nhoss

He is a senior lecturer at University College London in England.The study was funded by Cancer Research UK.Experts not involved with the study offered a number of different views on the findings.E-cigarette advocates said the research proves that the devices can help save lives by steering people away from traditional tobacco smoking.“This study should serve as a wake-up call to tobacco control activists who have spent the past eight years spewing hostile and outright incorrect rhetoric towards vapor products,” said Gregory Conley, the president of the American Vaping Association.Smokers continue to smoke because “they’ve been misled to believe that vaping may be as hazardous as smoking,” Conley continued.However, the study also found that e-cigarette or nicotine-replacement users who also kept smoking did not experience substantially reduced levels of carcinogens and toxins, compared with regular smokers.This indicates that e-cigarettes are not reducing as much harm as their supporters claim, said Dr. Norman Edelman, senior scientific advisor for the American Lung Association.Three out of four current e-cigarette users are “dual users” who still smoke tobacco too, according to the U.S.e cigarette mouthpiece

These people may use e-cigarettes to ward off nicotine cravings in places where smoking isn’t legal or would be socially unacceptable.“A lot of people who promote the use of e-cigarettes say, ‘Well, if smokers use e-cigarettes they’ll cut down on smoking and they’ll get fewer toxins in their body.’ But in this study that wasn’t true,” Edelman said.ecigarette roscoff“The e-cigarette users who also smoked got as much toxins in their body as those who just smoked.”For the study,181 former or current smokers who were asked whether they were currently using e-cigarettes or a nicotine-replacement therapy like patches or gum.Urine and saliva samples were taken from all participants and analyzed for nicotine as well as a handful of toxins and carcinogens known to be present in tobacco smoke.When smokers switched completely to e-cigarettes, levels of nicotine — the addictive ingredient in cigarettes — remained constant.e cigarette roques

But their intake of cancer-causing chemicals fell to levels found in people using nicotine-replacement therapies, the study authors reported.Shahab said that “this finding is consistent with the assertion that completely switching to e-cigarettes significantly reduces the risk of future cancers compared with continued smoking.ecigarette perpignanE-cigarettes are a safer alternative to smoking tobacco in the context of developing smoking-related cancer.”Conley, representing the vaping industry, contends that people who cut back on tobacco smoking while using e-cigarettes, but don’t completely quit, will experience a reduction in their levels of toxins and carcinogens, even though that wasn’t found in this study.“While this is a rigorous and well-performed study by a respected institution, there is one caveat to note — not all dual-users are created equally,” Conley said.“A smoker who drops from 20 cigarettes per day down to 15 may not see meaningful declines in carcinogen exposure,” Conley said.