Vaping is becoming more popular especially to teenagers, even with all the studies claiming the harmful effects it gives to the body. Teenage e-cigarette users are doing a trend which is called "dripping," and a research study suggests parents should ask their kids if they have tried this, if they have, they should talk to their children about the possible harmful effects of dripping.
'Dripping' Is Used To Make Flavors Taste Better
"Dripping" involves putting drops of e-liquid directly onto the exposed heating coil of an e-cigarette or atomizer. The cloud of vapor is immediately inhaled, Dr. Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, a professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, said. This method is said to make the flavors taste better, and it also give a "stronger hit."
What makes this dangerous, researchers say, is that it could also give a potentially higher hit of nicotine. What's worse is that a lot of teenagers have already tried "dripping." The Yale research team surveyed 7,000 Connecticut high school students, and they found that among 1,080 e-cigarette users, 26.1 percent of students have tried dripping in the past, NBC News reported.
E-Liquids Contain Flavor Chemicals Which Are Deemed Safe For Ingestion
A limitation to this study is that a large proportion of teens who participated in the research did not know whether they have tried dripping or not, which might have led the authors to underestimate the prevalence of this behavior. But still, this practice is a cause for concern, many experts agree. Krishnan-Sarin said that e-liquids contain flavor chemicals such as aldehydes, vanillins and alcohols which are considered safe for ingestion, but not so much information is available about the toxicity of inhaling these chemicals.
Not all e-cigarette products contain nicotine, but increased nicotine levels can lead to stronger throat hits. The study did not assess if the students added nicotine to the e-liquids used for dripping, or how frequently e-cigarettes were used for dripping, Science Daily reported. Krishnan-Sarin said that further studies are needed to assess possible health risks of e-cigarettes and of alternative uses like dripping.
