You may have noticed a friend or coworker who used to smoke cigarettes now puffing on an electronic-cigarette, a small battery-operated device that looks a lot like a cigarette holder. E-cigarettes deliver a dose of nicotine – at levels lower than the harmful toxins and carcinogens that come with smoking traditional cigarettes.
Dr. Thomas Sussan, assistant scientist in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, leads a team studying the health implications of e-cigarettes. Sussan and his fellow researchers found that vapors from e-cigarettes reduced immune responses in mice, and that the vapors contain ‘free radicals’ previously associated with tobacco products. The results of the study were published this week in the journal, Public Library of Science One or PLOS One. Thomas Sussan joins Sheilah in the studio to talk about it.
