Adolescent Exposure to Toxic Volatile Organic Chemicals from E-Cigarettes

Rubinstein ML, Delucchi K, Benowitz NL, et al. Pediatrics. 2018;141(4):e20173557. [CrossRef]

The authors sought to identify the presence of chemical toxicants contained in cigarette smoke in adolescent e-cigarette users. E-cigarette users and dual users (use of cigarettes in the past 30 days in addition to e-cigarettes) were compared to never-using controls. Urine excretion of metabolites of benzene, ethylene oxide, acrylonitrile, acrolein, and acrylamide was significantly higher in dual users versus e-cigarette–only users (all P < .05). Excretion of metabolites of acrylonitrile, acrolein, propylene oxide, acrylamide, and crotonaldehyde were significantly higher in e-cigarette–only users compared with controls (all P < .05). E-cigarette vapor may be less hazardous than tobacco smoke, but e-cigarette vapor contains many of the volatile carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. The authors encourage warnings about the potential risk from toxic exposure to carcinogenic compounds generated by these products.