Until recently Vaping has been seen as a safe alternative to smoking but recently Australia announced a ban on the importation and sale of all e-cigarettes, unless on prescription. So what do the Australians know that we don’t, and why has this change of opinion come about?
It seems that the original reviews did not address potentially major toxins involved in vaping, e.g. formaldehyde and fine particles produced by the heating of vape liquids.
In research published in January 2022 in the Australian Journal of Medicine, scientists analysed the gases produced when you vape liquids used in e-cigarettes and found harmful levels of chemicals including aromatic hydrocarbons which are known to increase the risk of lung diseases and asthma. They concluded that based on current worldwide evidence, use of e-cigarettes increases the risk of a range of adverse health outcomes including poisoning : seizures, addiction, trauma, burns and lung injury.
