The use of e-cigarettes is more harmful than previously believed. That is why the government should advise against smoking e-cigarettes, write researchers from the Trimbos Institute.
The institute conducted research on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Before that, researchers looked at several scientific studies on e-cigarettes.
It seems that e-cigarettes are less harmful than normal cigarettes. “If smokers switch completely to vapors, this will give them health benefits,” the institute writes. Most, however, do not completely switch, but go both smoking and vaping. There are indications that smoking and vaping at the same time is more harmful than either of the two.
There are also indications that e-cigarettes for young people can be a stepping stone to ordinary cigarettes. For them, the different flavors increase the attractiveness of an e-cigarette.
Much unclear
Reports from America about people who died from the effects of e-cigarette vaping do not seem to be applicable in the Netherlands. In the US, the cause of the deaths was most likely the acetate of vitamin E, a substance not known to be on the e-cigarette market in our country.
Although electronic cigarettes are less harmful than normal cigarettes, it is not yet clear what exactly the effects of smoking e-cigarettes are. This is partly because the effects must be measured in the long term, which is not yet possible.
“There are many limitations in the available research on e-cigarettes,” writes the Trimbos Institute. “Many topics have not yet been sufficiently researched to make a balanced final assessment of the e-cigarette’s public health effect.”
State Secretary Blokhuis writes in a letter to parliament that he will examine whether the government should do more to discourage the use of e-cigarettes. “The latest insights from Trimbos raise the question of whether additional legal measures should be considered,” Blokhuis writes.
–
