‘Clear’ vapes are worse for your blood pressure and heart rate than non-clear products, scientists have found.
These e-cigarettes are ones that include synthetic cooling compounds which activate the same cooling receptor as menthol without a minty odour.
The research, by scientists from Yale University and Boston University, assessed a group of participants aged between 18 and 45.
Before being tested, the participants fasted from food and caffeine and abstained from tobacco and exercise for six hours before.
They then took a three-to-four-second drag every 30 seconds over ten minutes. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured ten minutes after exposure.
The baseline measures were similar between “clear” and non “clear” flavoured users. However, following exposure, those using the “clear” e-cigarettes experienced a greater increase in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate.
Monitoring for new products is “critically needed to maximise the impact of flavour bans and protect adolescents and young adults”, the study concluded.
Earlier this week, a study from the University of York and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that children who vape are three times more likely to go on to be smokers.
Su Golder, associate professor in health science at the University of York, said: “The consistency in the evidence is striking. Across multiple studies, young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke in the future. These findings support stronger public health measures to protect teens from the risks associated with vaping.”
It also found that a number of studies showed links between vape use and asthma, coughing, and airway irritation. Experts also indicated possible links between e-cigarette use and a range of health issues like drug use and mental health concerns like depression. Dr Greg Hartwell, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the team found “consistent evidence around transitions to smoking which of course, in turn, opens the door to the multitude of harms that conventional cigarettes bring”.
From June 1 this year, it became illegal for businesses in the UK to sell or supply single-use vapes. The government cited environmental concerns, explaining: “As well as being eyesores, discarded vapes have a hugely damaging impact on our environment and wildlife. Animals such as birds, fish, and marine mammals can mistake vapes for food and ingest poisonous chemicals.”
The government also said the ban would help to curb the rise in young people vaping, as more than half of children who use vapes reported that “disposable” models were their product of choice.