E-cigarettes are less toxic and safer to use than cigarettes, according to a new scientific study.
Research funded by Cancer Research UK found that people who swapped 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 those who continued to smoke tobacco.
Writing in the Annals of Internal Medicine, published last night, the researchers describe analysing for first time the saliva and urine of long-term e-cigarette and NRT users, as well as smokers, and compared body-level exposure to key chemicals.
They found that former smokers who switched to e-cigarettes or NRT had significantly lower levels of toxic chemicals and carcinogen in their body compared to smokers.
However, people who continued to smoke and used e-cigarettes or NRT did not have the same differences.
Dr Lion Shahab, senior lecturer at UCL’s department of epidemiology and public health and lead author, 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, added: “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.”
Shahab L, Goniewicz M L, Blount B C et al. Nicotine, carcinogen, and toxin exposure in long-term e-cigarette and nicotine replacement therapy users: a cross-sectional study. Annals of Internal Medicine 6 February 2017; doi:10.7326/M16-1107 [abstract]
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