Search
The Kids Research Institute Australia strongly supports the Federal Government’s announcement today to introduce a suite of reforms aimed at banning non-prescription vaping products in Australia.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have become a leading form of nicotine use among children and adolescents worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 15 million young teenagers currently use these products. Contrary to early claims regarding reduced harm, e‑cigarettes expose users to a range of toxic substances, including carcinogens and, increasingly, synthetic nicotine compounds and other psychoactive agents.
E-cigarettes are widely perceived as a safer alternative to tobacco, and that perception often extends to their use around infants and children. Yet exhaled aerosol deposits onto indoor surfaces, leaving a residue, known as third-hand e-cigarette aerosol, that can be re-emitted, ingested, or absorbed through the skin. The developmental consequences of such exposure have been almost entirely unexplored.
The long-term consequences of early adverse exposures are well known but is becoming clear that early means not just in pregnancy but also in at least the two preceding generations. Furthermore, there are new existential threats to long term respiratory health, some of which have been presented at the INSPiRED meeting in Bologna and are reviewed in this manuscript.
Heated-tobacco-products (HTPs) are electronic devices that "heat" a processed tobacco/chemical mixture to produce an inhalable emission. They are advertised as a reduced-risk alternative to cigarette smoking. The aim of our research was to assess their potential health impacts using a 3D human airway model.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are often perceived to be a less harmful alternative to tobacco cigarettes. Potentially due to this perception, they are used by people with pre-existing respiratory conditions, such as asthma, who otherwise would not smoke. Despite this, there are few studies exploring the health effects of e-cigarette use on pre-existing asthma.