It’s no secret that vapes offer a variety of different tastes – from the traditional flavours of watermelon and mint, to the more bizarre unicorn hoops and gummy bears. But alarming new research has now issued a warning about flavours that may be detrimental to lung health.
The Canadian McGill University study sought to investigate the impacts of both unflavoured and flavoured e-cigarettes, including a berry tasting variety made up of 20 mg/mL nicotine. Different groups of mice were exposed to these vapours over several days, while scientists used live imaging to monitor their lungs.
The team claimed that a specific combination of chemicals found within berry vapes impaired the mice’s function of ‘alveolar macrophages’. For mammals like us, these highly abundant lung cells are the body’s first line of defence against everything from viruses and bacteria, to pollution and asbestos.
(
Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Previous research also indicates that macrophages play a ‘multifaceted and conflicting’ role in cases of lung cancer, but can in some instances hold a critical anti-tumour function. In light of this, Professor Ajitha Thanabalasuriar in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics said that more work is needed to understand whether the impact among mice is also mirrored in humans.
But she urged the public to stay cautious of different e-cigarette varieties. “We need to be careful about the types of flavours that we’re including in these products,” she said.
“They can have detrimental effects. I think that’s really the take-home message, especially some of these vaping products that are marketed for kids — the way they’re sold, the type of containers they are sold in — it’s very colourful, it’s really attractive to children, and this can be a really bad thing for our future.”
(
Getty Images)
The warning comes less than a week after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a new tax on vaping in the UK. From October 2026, the ‘flat rate duty’ will be £2.20 per 10ml of liquid.
The Mirror has approached Vapours Canada for comment as its e-cigarettes were used as part of the McGill University study.
This post was originally published on here
