Is e-cigarette bad for you? Study reveals health hazards include severe lung disease

Most cigarette smokers have turned to e-cigarette as a healthier alternative. But a recent study published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives on Dec. 8 revealed that e-cigarette smoking may not be as innocuous as we thought it would be.

As it turned out, many of these electronic cigarettes contain chemicals on their flavorings that may cause severe lung disease, according to a health article from US News. Currently, there are more than 7,000 varieties of flavored e-cigarettes and liquid, but the problem is that less is known about their potential health risks, the researchers said.

In the study, 51 types of flavored e-cigarettes and liquids were analyzed by the researchers from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Their findings later revealed that 47, or more than 75 percent, of them contain diacetyl, which is a chemical associated with bronchiolitis obliterans.

Bronchiolitis obliterans is a severe lung disease also referred to as "popcorn lung" because it was first diagnosed in workers who inhaled artificial-butter flavoring in factories making microwave popcorn, according to CBS News.

To make matters worse, the researchers also found two other related flavoring chemicals that may cause lung hazard among the flavored e-cigarettes and liquids tested in the study. These chemicals are acetoin, which was present in 46 of the flavors and 2,3-pentanedione, which was found in 23 of the flavors.

"Recognition of the hazards associated with inhaling flavoring chemicals started with 'popcorn lung' over a decade ago," said Joseph Allen, an assistant professor of exposure assessment science at the school, in a Harvard news release. "However, diacetyl and other related flavoring chemicals are used in many other flavors beyond butter-flavored popcorn, including fruit flavors, alcohol flavors and, we learned in our study, candy-flavored e-cigarettes."

According to the researchers, the study just showed that smoking e-cigarettes pose more health risks than we know they could. The study has also revealed that it is not just nicotine that people should be worried about when they smoke.

"Since most of the health concerns about e-cigarettes have focused on nicotine, there is still much we do not know about e-cigarettes," said study co-author David Christiani, a professor of environmental genetics at the school. "In addition to containing varying levels of the addictive substance nicotine, they also contain other cancer-causing chemicals, such as formaldehyde, and as our study shows, flavoring chemicals that can cause lung damage."