What's in an E-cigarette?

E-cigarettes, aka JUULs and vape pens, use a battery to heat up a special liquid into an aerosol that users inhale. It's not just harmless water vapor. The e-juice that fills the cartridges usually contains nicotine (which is extracted from tobacco), propylene glycol, flavorings and other chemicals. Studies have found that even e-cigarettes claiming to be nicotine-free contain trace amounts of nicotine. Additionally, when the e-liquid heats up, more toxic chemicals are formed.

Because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not begun its review of any e-cigarette or its ingredients, nor has FDA issued any standards on the products, e-cigarette composition and effects vary. What researchers do know is that these toxic chemicals and metals have all been found in e-cigarettes:

Nicotine – a highly addictive substance that negatively affects adolescent brain development

Propylene glycol – a common additive in food; also used to make things like antifreeze, paint solvent, and artificial smoke in fog machines

Carcinogens- chemicals known to cause cancer, including acetaldehyde and formaldehyde

Acrolein – a herbicide primarily used to kill weeds, can cause irreversible lung damage

Diacetyl – a chemical linked to a lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans aka popcorn lung

Diethylene glycol – a toxic chemical used in antifreeze that is linked to lung disease

Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, lead

Cadmium – a toxic metal found in traditional cigarettes that causes breathing problems and disease

Benzene – a volatile organic compound (VOC) found in car exhaust

Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs