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Study identifies alcohol-associated risk in e-cigarettes
New research conducted at the Yale University School of Medicine warns that alcohol content in some electronic cigarettes could result in impaired motor skills in users.
Published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the study involved groups of individuals receiving e-cigarettes with liquids containing either high (23.5%) or low (0.4%) amounts of alcohol. The group using the product with the high-alcohol concentration had weaker performance on psychomotor tests, and some of these individuals showed detectable levels of alcohol in urine drug tests.
The research team stated that alcohol's presence in some e-cigarettes could reinforce the addictive properties of both nicotine and alcohol.
“Given the widespread and unregulated use of e-cigarettes, especially by youth and other vulnerable populations, further studies are needed to evaluate both the acute safety and long-term health risks of using alcohol-containing e-cigarettes,” said senior author Mehmet Sofuoglu, of the Yale Department of Psychiatry.
