PREGNANT women who use certain flavours of vape are up to twice as likely to suffer a miscarriage, a study shows.
Experts discovered that mint and menthol flavoured vapes posed the greatest risk to unborn babies.
Mint and menthol flavoured vapes pose the greatest risk to unborn babies
And while the dangers of smoking in pregnancy are well known, research suggests certain replacement products are also not risk-free.
US scientists tracked the health 600 pregnant women – some of whom vaped – throughout their pregnancies to see how nicotine affected them.
There were no significant differences spotted between vapers and non-vapers overall in terms of miscarriages.
But there was a heightened risk when they looked solely at different vaping flavours, their analysis published in Preventive Medicine suggested.
Women who used mint or menthol flavoured vapes during or just before pregnancy were 227 per cent more likely to suffer a foetal death compared to other flavours.
The exact reason why mint and menthol vapes increased miscarriages was not determined in the study.
Instead, the experts pointed to previous studies which suggested menthol vapes can cause DNA damage and cell death.
Authors wrote that given the growing popularity vaping “healthcare providers should encourage e-cigarette users to quit prior to and during early pregnancy.”
Around 3.2million people in the UK use vapes, with officials concerned about rising use in teenagers.
Scientists say e-cigs are safer than tobacco but they still do not fully understand the risks.
Research suggests e-cigarettes are much less harmful during pregnancy than smoking, with the NHS advising they are “much safer for you and your baby”.
Meanwhile, previous data revealed that soaring numbers of people need treatment for breathing issues caused by vaping.
Researchers in California said that popular e-cigarettes could ‘trigger dangerous damage to brain and heart’.
It was also suggested that vaping is as bad as cigarettes for reducing blood vessel function.