Inhaling vapor from e-cigarettes is safer than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes, a new research study out of the U.S.-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute finds.
It’s one of the first studies in the U.S. to confirm that switching to e-cigarettes can reduce the risk of cancer for smokers, and researchers say it will bolster efforts at the local and national level to help smokers quit the habit, according to an article published by Buffalo Business First.
Maciej Goniewicz, lead author of the study and assistant professor of oncology in Roswell Park’s department of health behavior (whose work will be published in the journal Nicotine Tobacco Research) states that while nicotine exposure remains the same, individuals who switch from tobacco cigarettes to e-cigarettes saw the levels of specific carcinogens and toxins reduced significantly.
“They are safer, less toxic,” he said. “It’s the first time we have very strong evidence that we will be able now to give (smokers) that the answer is, yes , this you should consider a transition, a substitute for your tobacco cigarette that will save your life.”
The study is believed to be the first on smokers to demonstrate that substituting e-cigarettes for tobacco cigarettes may reduce exposure to toxins and carcinogens that can cause cancer. That’s an important finding for a cancer institute that focuses on reducing exposure and causes of cancer, he said. Roswell Park also holds the contract to run New York’s statewide smoker’s quitline.
“Toxins and carcinogens we measure in the body almost disappeared – the body cleared the 17 different chemicals we were looking for,” Goniewicz said.
He stressed the study does not make any claims that e-cigarettes are safe and should not be taken as a signal it’s okay for non-smokers to take up the habit. But it does provide evidence that those who already smoke can reduce their health risks.
Find the rest of the article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2016/08/18/roswell-park-study-finds-e-cigarettes-safer-less.html