Researchers Detect Lead And Arsenic In Some Vape Juices, Here's What You Should Know

New research out of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found potentially unsafe levels of some particularly unnerving toxic chemicals in some e-liquid concoctions.

The researchers examined e-liquids being used by 56 daily e-cigarette users in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Testing for the presence of 15 specific metals, the researchers found some of the e-liquid samples, 10 to be specific, to contain arsenic.

They also detected lead, nickel, chromium, and manganese in about half of the samples tested.

While the team behind the study is preparing to conduct additional research into metal exposure and vaping, the study’s senior author, Ana Maria Rule, is already pushing that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that has the power to regulate e-cigs and they e-liquids that they to recognize that vape heating coils “seem to be leaking toxic metals,” which in turn could be exposing vapers to potentially unsafe levels of toxic chemicals.

“It’s important for the FDA, the e-cigarette companies and vapers themselves to know that these heating coils, as currently made, seem to be leaking toxic metals — which then get into the aerosols that vapers inhale.”

Notably, the study’s researchers found that e-cigarettes that had their coils changed more frequently released the highest levels of aerosol metal concentrations.

The study’s findings were published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in February.

An unrelated study previously identified three potentially toxic e-juice flavors to avoid, which include cinnamon, vanilla, and buttery flavors in general.