ArticleTobacco control2017
Comparing the cancer potencies of emissions from vapourised nicotine products including e-cigarettes with those of tobacco smoke.
Article in Tobacco control, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 186 citations in OpenAlex.
- Carcinogen reduction in a randomized controlled study comparing e-cigarette provision to assessment only among people with serious mental illness who smoke.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2025Trial
- E-Cigarette Provision to Promote Switching in Cigarette Smokers With Serious Mental Illness-A Randomized Trial.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2022Trial
- Daily exposure to formaldehyde and acetaldehyde and potential health risk associated with use of high and low nicotine e-liquid concentrations.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- The effects of the European e-cigarette health warnings and comparative health messages on non-smokers' and smokers' risk perceptions and behavioural intentions.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- Risk Assessment Models for Heated Tobacco Products.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2026Article
- Influence of e-Liquid pH on Heavy Metal Emissions in Open-System Electronic Cigarette Aerosols and Associated Health Risks.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Article
- Patterns in methods, timing, and sequence of nicotine and cannabis co-use among adolescents.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- Recent Trends in Cigarette and HTP Use in Japan: A Scoping Review.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2026Article
- The potential of smoke-free products to reduce harm for smokers: what does the toxicological evidence say?Internal and emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Is it about substituting an addiction with another? development and initial psychometric properties of the first heated tobacco products addiction questionnaire (HeaTPAQ).Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- Modeling the Impact of Vaping: What We Need to Know and Which Methods to Use.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2025Article
- Biomarkers of Exposure to Nicotine and Selected Toxicants in Individuals Who Use Alternative Tobacco Products Sold in Japan and Canada from 2018 to 2019.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025Article
- Patterns of Use of e-Cigarettes and Their Respiratory Effects: A Critical Umbrella Review.Tobacco use insights · 2025Review
- Scoping of Policy Impacts for Regulating E-cigarettes (SPIRE): findings from a data and decision analytic model mapping project.NIHR open research · 2025Article
- Switching from Cigarettes to Heated Tobacco Products in Japan-Potential Impact on Health Outcomes and Associated Health Care Costs.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Patterns of Use of e-Cigarettes and Their Respiratory Effects: Protocol for an Umbrella Review.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- The role of puff volume in vaping emissions, inhalation risks, and metabolic perturbations: a pilot study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Pancreatic Cancer: A Review of Risk Factors.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- The online promotion strategies of e-cigarette and heated tobacco product retailers in South Korea following the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for regulation.Tobacco induced diseases · 2024Article
- Development of a Novel Bronchodilator Vaping Drug Delivery System Based on Thermal Degradation Properties.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundQuantifying relative harm caused by inhaling the aerosol emissions of vapourised nicotine products compared with smoking combustible tobacco is an important issue for public health.
methodsThe cancer potencies of various nicotine-delivering aerosols are modelled using published chemical analyses of emissions and their associated inhalation unit risks. Potencies are compared using a conversion procedure for expressing smoke and e-cigarette vapours in common units. Lifetime cancer risks are calculated from potencies using daily consumption estimates.
resultsThe aerosols form a spectrum of cancer potencies spanning five orders of magnitude from uncontaminated air to tobacco smoke. E-cigarette emissions span most of this range with the preponderance of products having potencies<1% of tobacco smoke and falling within two orders of magnitude of a medicinal nicotine inhaler; however, a small minority have much higher potencies. These high-risk results tend to be associated with high levels of carbonyls generated when excessive power is delivered to the atomiser coil. Samples of a prototype heat-not-burn device have lower cancer potencies than tobacco smoke by at least one order of magnitude, but higher potencies than most e-cigarettes. Mean lifetime risks decline in the sequence: combustible cigarettes >> heat-not-burn >> e-cigarettes (normal power)≥nicotine inhaler.
conclusionsOptimal combinations of device settings, liquid formulation and vaping behaviour normally result in e-cigarette emissions with much less carcinogenic potency than tobacco smoke, notwithstanding there are circumstances in which the cancer risks of e-cigarette emissions can escalate, sometimes substantially. These circumstances are usually avoidable when the causes are known.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.