Abstract
It is estimated that over 47 million people use tobacco products, mostly in the form of combustible (smokable) tobacco cigarettes. Thirteen to 50% of smokers also use electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes or vaping). Use of tobacco is the primary preventable cause of death and risk factor for lung, head, neck, and oropharyngeal cancer. Electronic cigarettes are a $10 billion dollar industry and has the potential to surpass the tobacco cigarette market. E-cigarette use is a public health concern because of the health issues of vaping and the limited amount of scientific research to support the safety of e-cigarette use.
The authors of this paper want to create awareness that use of e-cigarettes is not a safer alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes as e-cigarettes contain known carcinogens that may lead to development of oropharyngeal cancer.
Author Contributions
Copyright© 2022
Y. S. Lee DMD MD PHD MPH MSEd Cameron, et al.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Competing interests The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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Introduction
It is estimated that over 47 million people use tobacco products, mostly in the form of combustible (smokable) tobacco cigarettes. Smoking is highest in adults aged 25- 64 years and it is estimated that 480,000 die annually from this social habit. Electronic cigarettes are a $10 billion dollar industry and has the potential to surpass the tobacco cigarette market. The authors of this paper want to create awareness that use of e-cigarettes is not a safer alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes, as e-cigarettes contain known carcinogens that may lead to development of oropharyngeal cancer. Although cigarette smoking has deceased in younger age groups, e-cigarette use has steadily increased, especially students in middle (4.7 %) and high school (19.6%). Nicotine is the major addictive compound in tobacco. Nicotine is one of the main toxic substances in e-cigarettes and 45% released from vaping is deposited in the oral cavity. Studies have shown that oral mucosa and epithelial cells of the oropharynx are the first tissue exposed to tobacco smoke and e-liquid aerosols from vaping. Chemical analysis of the components of e-cigarette aerosols has revealed the presence of many harmful environmental toxins and carcinogens such as organic compounds (e.g., formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, acetone), free radicals and heavy metals (copper, chromium, iron, lead, arsenic, lead, nickel).