In secondhand vape, scientists smell risk

Available in an enticing array of flavors, 自从15年前电子烟进入市场以来，它的受欢迎程度迅速增长, particularly among middle and high school students. 但研究表明，电子烟——甚至只是在它们的使用周围——可能并不像一些人认为的那样“安全”.

虽然吸二手烟的危害是众所周知的, 关于如何吸入二手蒸汽的科学研究仍在进行中, or aerosol, affects the body. And people may be underestimating the health risk, said Dr. Talat Islam, 他是洛杉矶南加州大学研究人口和公共卫生科学的助理教授.

Islam和他的研究同事发现，接触电子烟产生的二手气溶胶与年轻人患支气管炎症状和呼吸短促的风险增加有关, especially among those who don't smoke or vape themselves, the team reported last year in the journal Thorax.

“电子烟产生的气溶胶含有重金属和超细颗粒，”伊斯兰说. "If somebody else is vaping in the same area, you're breathing it – those particles are entering your lungs, where they can do damage."

In addition to nicotine, the aerosols include heavy metals such as lead, nickel and zinc, cancer-causing substances such as benzene, and diacetyl, 吸电子烟的人患上“爆米花肺”的原因是什么.

A 2021 study in New York, published in the journal Tobacco Control研究发现，使用电子烟会增加周围房间的细颗粒物数量. Exposure to fine particles, 或者是能够深入肺部的微小颗粒, can worsen heart and lung disease, and even lead to premature death.

电子烟是美国青少年中最常用的烟草产品.S. middle and high school students in 2021, government research shows. 2015年至2017年期间，约有四分之一的学生接触过二手电子烟气溶胶, that figure grew to 1 in 3 students in 2018, according to a 2019 study in JAMA Network Open.

伊斯兰说:“人们普遍认为，电子烟的危害不如吸烟. “我认为这就是为什么我们看到如此高的二手暴露水平."

等到人们完全了解对健康的影响时，可能已经太晚了. Ellen Boakye, 他是巴尔的摩约翰霍普金斯大学西卡罗内心血管疾病预防中心的博士后研究员.

"When people started smoking, the health effects were not known until years later, and that's the same thing we're seeing with e-cigarettes," said Boakye, 他也是美国心脏协会烟草监管科学中心的研究员.

“有证据表明，电子烟的使用与呼吸系统疾病和心血管疾病有关," she added. "As more evidence becomes available, we may see that this association is causal, 包括使用电子烟和接触二手烟."

博阿基说，人们应该尽量减少接触电子烟，最好是离开这个地方. And she urged people who vape to quit, 他指出，戒烟项目需要更多的资金.  

“我们目前正在做的一些工作表明，很多(年轻人)正在尝试戒烟, and there isn't a lot of support for them," she said, 注意到大多数尼古丁替代产品都是针对成年人的. “我认为这是一个应该重点关注的领域.戒烟咨询电话:800-QUITNOW(784-8669)，短信:“QUIT”至47848或访问网站 smokefree.gov.

Whether inhaling traffic exhaust, cigarette smoke or e-cigarette aerosols, experts say the message is the same. "We want to breathe in that clean air," Islam said. "Anytime you add things there, we know that has an effect."

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