For RDRD enthusiasts1E-cig is associated with less toxicity than cigarettes. It's hard to answer the question: yes, but by how much?
A team from the Institut Pasteur de Lille has studied the composition of smoke/vape from different modes of administration, and the toxicological effect of these fumes (article in English but in open access).2.
- HTP = heated tobacco via IQOS 2.4
- 3R4F = manufactured cigarette
- Lounge = 2nd generation e-cig
- Mb = 3rd generation E-cig with 18 (low power) or 30 W (maximum power).
The three vaporizers were tested with a 16 mg/mL nicotine liquid, classic flavor (in 70% PG and 30% VG).
The results are based on the same amount of nicotine delivered, since cigarettes deliver more nicotine/puff than HTP and low-power 2nd or 3rd-generation E-cigs. On the other hand, the full-power 3rd-generation E-cig delivers more nicotine/puff than a cigarette.
Summary :
For the 19 carbonyls tested, PH reduced smoking by 85%, but E-cig reduced smoking by at least 90%!
For the 23 aromatic hydrocarbons tested, HTP achieved a 96% reduction compared with cigarettes, but E-cigs achieved a reduction of at least 65% compared with HTP!
Put another way, the E-cigs tested in this study produce at least 500 times fewer carbonyls and 96 times fewer aromatic hydrocarbons.
With regard to in vitro toxicity, the team found no lethal cellular dose 50 (which kills 50% of cells) for E-cig versus 45 puffs for HTP and 2 for cigarettes. Oxidative stress was also tested (120 puffs of E-cig versus 12 for HTP and 1 for cigarettes), as was the inflammatory response (see publication for details).
E-cig therefore appears to be far less toxic than cigarettes.
IMPORTANT :
This article, published on September 11, 2020 by Mathieu Chappuy on the www.addictolyon.fr website of the Service Universitaire d'Addictologie de Lyon (SUAL), is no longer available as the site is no longer online. However, this clear, synthetic analysis of the study carried out by Institut Pasteur researchers deserved to be preserved in the interests of public information. The version shown above is the most recent, available on www.archive.org as of May 29, 2023: https: //web.archive.org/web/20230529020449/https://www.addictolyon.fr/post/la-vape-toxique-ou-non-%C3%A9l%C3%A9ments-de-r%C3%A9ponse-avec-une-publication-fran%C3%A7aise?postId=5f5b61526e809e0017e92e20
The Institut Pasteur de Lille also reported on this work: Study of the in vivo genotoxicity of electronic cigarette aerosols
- Risk and Damage Reduction ︎
- Comparison of the chemical composition of aerosols from heated tobacco products, electronic cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes and their toxic impacts on the human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389420314060?via%3Dihub ︎