E-cigarettes cause as much damage to DNA as regular tobacco, new study finds

The debate over the safety of e-cigarettes rages on – and now new research says they could potentially be as dangerous as regular tobacco cigarettes.
The devices which contain nicotine-based liquid could be as harmful as unfiltered cigarettes when it comes to causing DNA damage, according to University of Connecticut (UConn) scientists.
They also found that the vapour from non-nicotine e-cigs caused as much DNA damage as filtered cigarettes, possibly due to the chemical additives.
Cellular mutations caused by DNA damage can lead to cancer.
As well as whether the e-cig contains a nicotine or non-nicotine liquid, the level of DNA damage e-cigs causes also depends on the amount of vapour the user inhales and how many other additives are present.

Lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at UConn Karteek Kadimisetty, said: 'I was shocked the first time I saw the result, so I ran the controls again. I even diluted the samples.
'But the trend was still there – something in the e-cigarettes was definitely causing damage to the DNA.'