Abstract
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According to a preliminary study, vapers have higher levels of certain DNA-damaging compounds in their saliva. Worse, vapers sustain a kind of DNA damage that is consistent with these compounds. Evidence of DNA-damaging compounds and DNA damage was collected by scientists based at the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota (U of M).
Led by Silvia Balbo, Ph.D., assistant professor at U of M, researchers examined the saliva of e-cigarette users and found unusually high quantities of three DNA-damaging compounds—the reactive carbonyls known as formaldehyde, acrolein, and methylglyoxal. Also, in comparisons of vapers and non-vapers, the scientists showed that the vapers had higher levels of DNA damage related to acrolein exposure.