Is It True What Chinese Media Say About Vaping Causing Cancer?

"It is seven times more toxic than cigarettes, can cause multiple cancers, and has been banned in many countries! Yet many Chinese people still use it!"

I had heard this article mentioned before, and at the time I thought it was just clickbait, so I didn't pay much attention. However, I was surprised to see it in the Peninsula Morning Post recently, which is equivalent to official recognition?

Upon reading it carefully, I found it quite sensational.

Among the two most alarming images, one is from the BBC and the other from MailOnline (Daily Mail), both articles are from the same source.

First, the BBC article is dated August 14, while the Daily Mail (jointly published in the UK) is dated January 29. Clearly, the BBC, which has been called fake news by Trump (haha), is just recycling the Daily Mail's article.

Now let's start with the Daily Mail's article.

First, the wording of the Daily Mail's article is more rigorous.

For example, "cell mutated faster than expected" is faster than [expected], and "not as risk-free as we think" does not mean [as safe as we think]. It even mentions the classic argument of "97%" again. The only place where it uses the term "higher risk" is when comparing e-cigarette users to non-smokers, which is obviously stating the obvious...

Brothers, take note, the key point is the source of this article:

"Moon-shong Tang" is Professor Tang Mengxiong from the American Institute of Environmental Medicine, Taiwan.

The Chinese title of this article is "E-cigarettes Damage DNA, Reduce Repair Ability of Lung, Heart, and Bladder Cells in Mice and Humans"

It was published on January 29 this year in PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (a top academic journal).

More importantly, the specific experimental process is as follows: mice were exposed to e-cigarette vapor for 12 weeks (3 hours a day, 5 days a week), at a dose equivalent to a human using e-cigarettes for [10 years].

The experimental results showed that after 12 weeks, all the mice were [alive], in good condition, and had [normal] body weight. Dissection revealed DNA [damage] in the hearts, lungs, and bladders of the mice, with a [decreased] ability to repair cells.

The experimental conclusion suggests that the results are equivalent to [human bladder epithelial cells being exposed to nicotine], indicating that e-cigarettes may [possibly] lead to lung cancer, bladder cancer, and heart disease.

In other words, the scientific experiment's conclusion is not as "terrifying" as the media claims; it is just an old news reiterating an old viewpoint: "As long as you smoke, regardless of the type, there are corresponding risks."

That said, even Professor Tang's article does not conclude that e-cigarettes are more harmful than cigarettes; how did domestic media come up with that?

Additionally, there are controversial points in the experiment itself, such as the types of e-cigarettes (which were not specified), the environment of action (smoking is not equivalent to living in smoke), and the lack of a control group of traditional cigarettes (which I agree with).

In summary, Professor Tang's article is available online, and the BBC or Daily Mail can also be checked online. I won't say much more; let's proceed with caution.