-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are battery-operated devices designed to look and feel similar to cigarettes or cigars, but they don’t burn tobacco.
E-cigarettes heat liquids to produce a vapor that looks like smoke, which users inhale. Using an e-cigarette is often called ‘vaping’.
In a study from the University of Louisville, scientists found that exposure to e-cigarette aerosols can cause heart arrhythmias in animal models—both in the form of premature and skipped heartbeats.
The findings show that short-term exposure to e-cigarettes can destabilize heart rhythm through specific chemicals within e-liquids.
The researchers suggest that e-cigarette use involving certain flavors or solvent vehicles may disrupt the heart’s electrical conduction and provoke arrhythmias.
These effects could increase the risk of atrial or ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest.
In the study, the team tested the cardiac impacts of inhaled e-cigarette aerosols solely from the main two ingredients in e-liquids (nicotine-free propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin) or from flavored retail e-liquids containing nicotine.
They found that for all e-cigarette aerosols, the animals’ heart rate slowed during puff exposures and sped up afterward as heart rate variability declined, indicating fight-or-flight stress responses.
In addition, e-cigarette puffs from a menthol-flavored e-liquid or from propylene glycol alone caused ventricular arrhythmias and other conduction irregularities in the heart.
This work adds to a growing body of research on the potential toxicity and health impacts of e-cigarettes reported by the American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center.
As e-cigarette use has grown nationwide, the potential advantages and harms of vaping have been debated.
Since vaping does not involve combustion, it exposes users and bystanders to little if any carbon monoxide, tar or cancer-causing nitrosamines compared with conventional cigarettes.
However, e-cigarettes can deliver aldehydes, particles and nicotine at levels comparable to combustible cigarettes.
Vaping might help smokers quit combustible cigarettes, but the appeal and addictiveness of e-cigarettes may encourage youth to vape amidst unknown long-term risks or take up smoking.
More than 25% of high schoolers and 10% of middle schoolers in the U.S. reported using e-cigarettes before the pandemic.
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The study was conducted by Alex Carll et al and published in Nature Communications.
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