Berry-flavored vapes might look and taste fun, but they come with hidden dangers. A new study finds these flavors can weaken lung defenses against infections.
Berry-flavored vapes can impair the lung’s natural defences, which makes it more difficult for the body to fight off infections. The effects of flavored and unflavored e-cigarettes were evaluated in the study (1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Alveolar macrophage function is impaired following inhalation of berry e-cigarette vapor
).
Even though earlier studies have demonstrated that vaping in any form can be harmful, the researchers said their study adds to a growing body of evidence showing how flavorings added to vaping solutions can make the risks worse.
McGill Assistant Professor Ajitha Thanabalasuriar of the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, along with Erika Penz of the University of Saskatchewan, were inspired by a number of lung injury cases that were reported in 2019 to expose mice to e-cigarette vapour over a period of days. They used a live imaging technique to observe the lung immune cells in real time.
The study, published in PNAS, showed that specific chemicals in the berry vapes paralyze immune cells in the lungs responsible for clearing out harmful particles, leaving the body more vulnerable to respiratory infections. The unflavoured ones did not have that effect.
“We need to be careful about the types of flavours that we’re including in these products. They can have detrimental effects. I think that’s really the take-home message, especially some of these vaping products that are marketed for kids — the way they’re sold, the type of containers they are sold in — it’s very colourful, it’s really attractive to children, and this can be a really bad thing for our future,” she said.
More work is needed to pinpoint the specific compounds in berry-flavoured vapes responsible for impairing immune cells and to confirm whether the effects observed in mice also occur in humans, she noted.
While smoking rates are declining, more than one in five young adults ages 18 to 24 vape in Quebec.
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Reference:
- Alveolar macrophage function is impaired following inhalation of berry e-cigarette vapor- (https:www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2406294121)
Source-Eurekalert
