The University of Louisville received a $3.6 million grant from the to study the effects of flavorings used in electronic cigarettes.
Researchers will use the money from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are looking at the short- and long-term impacts of flavors — like mango and bubblegum — on the heart.
The scientists are cataloging those that are potentially harmful.
“E-cigarettes are still relatively new, and we don’t yet fully understand what their health effects are,” Alex Carll, an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and co-lead on the project, said in a news release. “Understanding this could help us make better purchasing and regulatory decisions.”
The FDA has banned the use of unauthorized flavors in disposable e-cigarette cartridges, saying some could appeal to kids and help fuel rising rates of youth vaping. But many flavors are still available in liquid form. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 13% of high school students reported recently using e-cigarettes in 2022.
“Our goal is to understand how individual flavoring chemicals impact the heart,” Matthew Nystoriak, an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and co-lead on the project, said in a news release. “There are many flavor chemicals used in e-cigarettes and if we know which are potentially more harmful than others, it’s possible for people to make more informed decisions about which products they use.” Identifying their biological effects also is likely to help the FDA in regulating flavoring additives in e-cigarettes in the future.
Scientists said some ingredients may be safe to eat but not to inhale.
WDRB.com – 2022-06-14.
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