Who's more harmful, e-cigarettes or cigarettes?FDA researchers say e-cigarettes reduce harm by up to 95 percent

September 15, 2023

E-cigarettes and cigarettes: Who's more harmful, FDA researchers say?

*Smoking is bad for your health, e-cigarettes are prohibited for minors and not recommended for non-smokers

E-cigarettes' harm reduction has once again been confirmed by an authoritative public health organization.

Recently, one of the world's most authoritative public health organizations - the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers released in the journal "Tobacco Control" research paper that e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes, and have a certain harm reduction. When smokers switch to e-cigarettes, their urine levels of biomarkers for a variety of carcinogens (e.g., benzene, 1,3-butadiene, acrolein, etc.) drop by up to 95 percent.

The UK Department of Public Health determined that e-cigarettes reduce harm back in 2015. The reasoning is clear: the tobacco combustion process produces 69 carcinogens, e-cigarettes contain no tobacco and have no combustion process, so they can reduce the harm of cigarettes by 95%. But specific to a certain carcinogen, such as tobacco-specific nitrosamines, benzene, etc., e-cigarettes can reduce their harm, and can reduce the harm to what extent?
The FDA is authorized by the U.S. Congress and is the highest law enforcement agency in the U.S. specializing in food and drug regulation. The researchers searched and screened a total of more than 5,000 relevant studies worldwide from August 2013 to February 2021, and came to the following two main conclusions:
1) E-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes
The study divided the research subjects into two groups: e-cigarette users and cigarette smokers, and the data showed that e-cigarette users generally inhaled fewer carcinogens than cigarette smokers. For example, for benzene (metabolite S-PMA), a class 1 carcinogen associated with leukemia, one study showed that the level of S-PMA in the urine of e-cigarette users was significantly lower than that of cigarette smokers, and there was no significant difference from that of non-smokers.
However, the study did not analyze data on three tobacco-specific nitrosamines, carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which have been shown in several studies around the world to be either extremely low or undetectable biomarkers in the urine of e-cigarette users, FDA researchers said in the paper's introduction. There is no doubt that e-cigarettes reduce the major harms of cigarettes.

2) E-cigarettes have a harm reduction effect, smokers can choose to switch to e-cigarettes
Since e-cigarettes are less harmful, can smokers switch to e-cigarettes to improve their health?FDA researchers conducted a related survey, data show that smokers switch to e-cigarettes, inhalation of harmful biomarker levels significantly reduced: a class of carcinogenic benzene biomarker levels in the urine decreased by 87% -94%. In the urine, biomarker levels of the class I carcinogen benzene decreased by 87%-94%, and those of the class I carcinogen 1,3-butadiene decreased by 55%-95%, those of the class II carcinogen acrolein decreased by 70.5%-91%, and those of the class II carcinogen acrylonitrile decreased by 78%-94%.

In addition, smokers who switch to e-cigarettes also experience a decrease in urinary levels of biomarkers for carcinogens such as acrylamide, ethylene oxide, and vinyl chloride. Some of these carcinogens are associated with heart and lung disease, while others are irritants to the eyes, respiratory tract, liver, kidneys, skin or central nervous system, making long-term inhalation extremely hazardous to health.
"More and more smokers are switching to e-cigarettes, and hopefully our findings will provide valid information for scientific research, clinical practice and health policy." said Marzena Hiler, a member of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products and one of the paper's lead authors.

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