E-cigarettes on the rise: Dangerous trends among young people!

E-cigarettes on the rise: Dangerous trends among young people!

The alarming results of the DEBRA study are here! More and more people in Germany are turning to e-cigarettes - a trend that is particularly booming among young people. Health economist Stephanie Klosterhalfen from the University Hospital of Düsseldorf reports a shocking increase in consumption of 38 percent between 2016 and 2023. Currently, 2.2 percent of the population aged 14 and over use these products. Disposable e-cigarettes are particularly popular because they are cheap and offer up to 600 puffs. But while e-cigarettes are booming, around 30 percent of Germans still smoke classic tobacco cigarettes.

Dangers of vaping

The dangers of e-cigarettes should not be underestimated! Pulmonary specialist Matthias Urlbauer warns: E-cigarettes are not less dangerous, but dangerous in a different way. The vapors penetrate deeper into the lungs than smoke from traditional cigarettes. It is still unclear what the substances contained there are doing, but Urlbauer fears that new clinical pictures could emerge in 20 years. What is particularly worrying is the variety of flavors - over 16,000 are in circulation! Many of these flavors have not yet been sufficiently researched, and some even contain cancer-causing pollutants such as lead and arsenic.

The industry sells e-cigarettes like sweet candy, and that annoys Urlbauer. The advertising promises 95 percent fewer harmful substances than conventional cigarettes - a misleading claim! Particularly dangerous is the so-called “dual use”, in which users consume both e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes. This combination results in the lungs being fully exposed to pollutants. Urlbauer urgently calls for more information and bans on certain flavors in order to better protect young people. Smoking is always harmful and beating addiction is possible - but the dangers must be clearly communicated!