At the end of August, during the National Anti-Smoking Day campaign 2022, the Brazilian Society of Pneumology and Tisiology (SBPT) warned about the new strategy of the tobacco industry to recruit more smokers: the use of Electronic Smoking Devices (ESD), commonly known as electronic cigarettes, which have become popular among young people and those who have never smoked and think the device is harmless.
Studies have shown that the aerosols produced by electronic cigarettes contain nearly two thousand substances that are still unknown and undisclosed by manufacturers, including industrial chemicals and caffeine (Chem Res. Toxicol. 2021). The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has banned the sale of ESDs; however, they are easily found on the streets with street vendors and online.
According to pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist Jessica Polese, electronic cigarettes (or vapes, e-cigarettes, e-cigs) represent a combination of risks, with harmful health effects already known from regular cigarettes and several dozen chemical substances, including proven carcinogens for the lungs, bladder, esophagus, and stomach.
"They contain nicotine that penetrates the body's circulation and is one of the causes of increased blood pressure, metabolic problems - mainly cardiovascular - similar to cigarettes, and also oily contents and flavorings, substances that irritate the lungs and are terrible for those who are allergic, and worse for those who are smoking and for those around them," warns the doctor.
The vapor emitted by the devices concerns specialists because it increases the chances of diseases and because it is not known exactly what is being used. "The vapor emitted is water vapor, and within it, various substances are used, some of which we know and others we do not, so we do not know exactly what is being inhaled and what it may cause to the lungs, such as pneumonitis, an inflammation," explains Jessica.
At a recent congress that the doctor attended in Campinas (40th Brazilian Congress of Pneumology and Tisiology and 16th Brazilian Congress of Respiratory Endoscopy - SBPT 2022) in October, she stated that electronic cigarettes were the subject of various debates. "We talked a lot about the increase in patients with respiratory syndromes like asthma, and how there are more young people addicted to electronic cigarettes, even though they did not smoke before," says Jessica. What happened was that those who did not smoke began to use ESDs and migrated to regular cigarettes," the doctor points out.
"The electronic cigarette becomes an entry point to regular cigarettes because it contains nicotine, and if a person is chemically dependent, they will seek this nicotine in any situation they can," the doctor emphasizes.
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