Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping

Researchers link e-cigs to wounds that
 won’t heal and ‘smoker’s cough’ in teens

Vaping is not risk-free, especially for kids and teens. A host of new studies have now uncovered worrisome health concerns. For instance, the atomizer shown here can make vapors hotter and riskier to health.

CHAOWALIT466/ISTOCKPHOTO

When Irfan Rahman talked to young vapers, some complained of bleeding
mouths and throats. And these bloody sores seemed slow to heal.
Such reports concerned this toxicologist at the University of Rochester in New York.
 So he decided to investigate what the vapors inhaled from electronic cigarettes
 might be doing to mouth cells.

Last October, his team showed those vapors inflame mouth cells in ways that
 could potentially promote gum disease. That gum damage can destroy
 the tissues that hold teeth in place. So severe gum disease could lead to tooth loss.