MINT flavour vapes are more deadly and damaging to lungs than other flavours, experts find.
The cool flavour produces more toxic microparticles compared to menthol-free liquids.
GettyThe cool flavour produces more toxic microparticles compared to menthol-free liquids[/caption]
Mint vape fans took shallower breaths and had poorer lung function than other smokers – regardless of how long they smoked cigarettes, whether they used cannabis-laced vaping products, and their age, gender, and race.
Scientists warn the minty flavour could be as dangerous as cannabinoid vapes which have been strongly linked to lung injury.
This comes as minsters in England unveil new plans to encourage long-time smokers to switch cigarettes for vaping.
Councils in England will offer e-cigarette trades to up to a million people – nearly a fifth of smokers – to slash addiction rates.
Pregnant women will be paid with shopping vouchers if they ditch the fags.
Vaping is widely recognised as a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes.
But that does not mean e-cigarettes are harmless, and a growing body of evidence has linked nicotine to a greater risk of several health conditions.
Senior author Professor Kambez Benam at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, warned: “Many people, especially youth, erroneously assume that vaping is safe, but even nicotine-free vaping mixtures contain many compounds that can potentially damage the lungs.
“Just because something is safe to consume as food does not mean that it’s safe to inhale.
“The main message that we want to put out there is for people, especially young adults, who haven’t smoked before.
“Switching to e-cigarettes may be a better, safer alternative for someone who is trying to quit smoking regular tobacco products.
“But it’s important to have full knowledge of e-cigarettes’ risks and benefits before trying them.”
University of Pittsburgh researchers developed a “vaping robot” to measure the health-toll of different flavours.
The bot can precisely mimic the temperature, humidity, puff volume and duration.
In doing so, the invention simulates healthy and diseased breathing patterns to reliably predict just how toxic each e-cigarette is for the lungs.
The researchers developed the robot to improve testing of how mixing vaping liquids and adding flavourings affects their composition and health impacts.
It overcomes the limitations of traditional testing that involve using rats and mice or growing cells in a lab.
Rodents have very different anatomy of their nasal passages while lab-based testing can take weeks or months to deliver reliable results.
The research was published on Tuesday in the journal Respiratory Research.
It comes as the Government launched a vaping crackdown to stop kids getting hooked on nicotine.
A new “enforcement squad” will go after shops caught selling e-cigarettes to under-18s and pull illegal products off the shelves.
Research suggests seven per cent of Brits aged 15 to 24 vape regularly – the highest of comparable countries.
Worryingly, the proportion is around the same for 11 to 17 year-olds.