Investigators: Alexander Larcombe, Emily Chivers, Peter Franklin
External collaborators: Associate Professor Benjamin Mullins (Curtin University of Technology), Professor Bill Musk (Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital), Professor Rachel Huxley (La Trobe University)
Plain language summary: The health effects of electronic cigarette use are virtually unknown. They have only recently been introduced into widespread use, and as such their effects on human health will not be known for many years. We will use our expertise in exposure models and health outcome measurement to provide timely hard-data on their potential to impact health – data that are urgently required to guide policy makers in this area.
Project description:
Electronic cigarettes (“e-cigarettes”) heat and atomize a liquid solution (“e-juice”) producing an aerosol which is inhaled. They are a new technology and their use is widespread and increasing rapidly especially in adolescents. In many countries, the number of people regularly using e-cigarettes is doubling annually, and there are an estimated 200,000 current Australian users. Despite this, the potential for e-cigarette use to impact health is virtually unknown. This knowledge gap has been recognized as a research priority by international medical associations and it is this knowledge gap that our proposed research aims to help fill. The limited data on e-cigarettes that exist suggest that: (i) they are likely to have a negative impact on health, especially in situations of pre-existing respiratory disease, (ii) pregnant women are more likely to use them compared with conventional cigarettes and (iii) the type of e-cigarette e-juice can significantly influence health outcomes. In Australia, the laws surrounding the importation, sale and use of e-cigarettes are vague, and hard-data on their potential to impact health are urgently required to guide policy makers.
In 2014 we received Department of Health, Western Australia funding to perform the first study investigating the long term respiratory health effects of electronic cigarette vapour exposure. These data were published in a Health Department of Western Australia report in 2015 and in a peer reviewed article in 2017. We also received an Asthma Foundation of Western Australia Project Grant in 2015 to study the potential for e-cigarettes to exacerbate asthma.
In 2017 we received an NHMRC grant to study the health effects of electronic cigarettes. To date we completed 2 of the 4 aims of the grant, with the other two underway and due for completion this year.