There are some concerns regarding the new products.

One could and should doubt the safety of electronic cigarettes (as with any novelty product), or rather I would say the chemical solution that is vaporized and then inhaled. These chemicals are the subject of the study of many scientists and organizations for both the short-term and long-term effects of vaping on the human body, health and on those around.

One of the most serious  and deadly diseases today for which cure is yet to be found is cancer. In 2012, 8.2 million people died and 14 million new cases were identified worldwide. There are many types affecting different age groups in different environments, and the illness is very hard to detect in the early stages. If there are claims that anything consumed that has any kind of relation to cancer development in the body, it must be studied very seriously.

Traditional smoking is known for its links to many types of cancer, one of them found in the bladder.

A new research study was presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) claiming that there is an increased risk for bladder cancer from vaping. A press release was released with more information.

The study was presented by Dr. Chang, MD, MBA, who is a professor at Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center.

Testing was performed on vapers (13 users) and non-vapers (10 users). Both groups were with an average age of 39.4 years. Some assumptions were made based on the users for how long before the test they had stopped smoking traditional tobacco (at least 6 months were required). Their urine samples were tested for five known biomarkers that had been believed to be present in some of the e-liquids and/or their aerosols that are sold on the market. Which e-liquids were tested exactly or which company had produced them it is not known.

It was found that around 92 percent of the vapers (12 out of 13) had two (o-toluidine and 2-naphthylamine) of the five biomarkers. A biomarker is either a gene, substance or even a process that is known to cause some kind of disease.

O-toluidine is/was used for coloring hair and it also has applications in the dye industry. Currently, it is banned in many western countries because it is carcenogenic.

2-naphthylamine is also a chemical compound that had uses in dyeing, but today it is replaced with other less toxic substances.

Additional studies would need to be conducted to clarify the connection as per the press release, but it can not be denied that there were actual carcinogens found.

Studies like this one need to be encouraged and sponsored by the government, consumer groups and even manufacturing companies. Everyone, especially consumers need to know the safety of these products.

Another related study on this subject was performed by another group of researchers from New York, sponsored with grants from NIH (National Institutes of Health) and the Center of Excellence for Urological Research at New York University School of Medicine. This study claims that that vapor is potentially carcinogenic because it prevents DNA repair and induces tumorigenic DNA adducts.

The research PNFBA-1 states that the nicotine and another chemical called cotinine are excreted to urine. Based on this fact, there is a high possibility of increased risk for the deadly disease to develop in the bladder, so they did a research.

However, this time the test was performed on twenty male mice instead of people. They conducted the test in controlled environment, meaning no previous or outside influences (or experiences) were present that could skew the results. Whereas the study above placed some assumptions on the people statements on which the whole research was conducted (like how long were they smoking tobacco previously, for how long was their abstinence, etc), it should be known that I do not doubt the results and conclusions of both studies.

The test method was conducted on two groups of mice, one exposed to vapor and the other on filtered air for 12 weeks (5 days per week). Again, it is not stated what kind of e-cigarette solution was used in the testing.

Based on the results  they found out that e-smoke both causes DNA damage and inhibits  repair (both increase cancer risk) in human urothelial cells by the following chemicals : nicotine, formaldehyde, and nitrosamines.

Inhibiting DNA repair causes damage to accumulate faster over time. DNA damage is related to both aging and cancer.

I am sure you have heard about nicotine, but what about formaldehyde and nitrosamines?

Formaldehyde is used in several industries, like in textile, in automobiles for transmission and the electrical system, for making of industrial resin, and others. According to other studies, the main concern is when there is inhalation of this substance.

Nitrosamines are used in smaller number of industries. These substances are known to be strongly correlated with cancer in many animals, including humans.

These results must be taken seriously.

The empirical evidence needs to be trusted. The scientist and researchers are those who are to be trusted because they use standardized methods (that could not be biased, meaning you can not convince the mice not to vape or tell you different statement) which produce empirical evidence. Who is sponsoring these studies is also important because many times in history a bias could have been present in the results based on what kind of message the sponsors had wanted to send. However, in the case studies here neither the smoking nor non-smoking groups were sponsoring them, therefore bias would not be there.

Some details were omitted from the research, like what was the e-liquid used and where it was manufactured.

Regardless of the omission of these details or the sample size, the results must be taken seriously.