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Nicotine inhaled from e-cigarettes can damage DNA in mouse heart, lung, and bladder and in cultured human lung and bladder cells, a new study shows. The results, published Monday (January 29) in PNAS, suggest that vaping increases the risk of developing cancer and heart disease and reinforce the research showing e-cigarettes’ risks to human health.
The DNA changes were similar to those linked to secondhand smoke, study coauthor Moon-shong Tang of New York University tells The Guardian. Specifically, the team found that two mutagenic compounds develop in lung, bladder, and heart cells exposed to e-cigarette smoke. DNA-repair activity and the repair proteins XPC and OGG1/2 were reduced in the lung tissue of mice.
Critics caution that the mice in the study were exposed to higher levels of e-cigarette smoke than those who vape might inhale (although Bloomberg reports that, over 12 weeks, mice were exposed to ...
