Battery-powered e-cigs have been widely promoted as a safer alternative to cigarettes because they do not burn tobacco — but scientists now warn the nicotine in them is far from harmless.
In laboratory tests, mice exposed to e-cig vapour had higher levels of DNA damage in the heart, lungs and bladder than those just breathing clean air.
DNA repair systems which protect against cancer were also impaired in the cells of the animals, the US researchers discovered.
While tobacco smoke contains a host of potentially dangerous chemicals, e-cig liquid consists only of nicotine and relatively harmless solvents.
Recent studies have shown that e-cig users have 97 per cent less of a lung cancer-causing component known as NNAL in their bodies than tobacco smokers.
That is similar to the level in those on nicotine-replacement therapy.
But NNAL levels for vapers are still significantly higher than for non-smokers, the team found.
The researchers wrote: “We propose e-cigarette smoke is carcinogenic and that e-cig smokers have a higher risk than non-smokers to develop lung and bladder cancer and heart diseases.”
Similar results were seen in cultured human lung and bladder cells exposed to nicotine.
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