One in four teens who use e-cigarettes say they’ve dripped, letting the nicotine-based liquid drop onto the e-cigarette’s heating coils and then inhaling the vapors. That figure comes from a Yale study that says there’s reason to be concerned about the trend.
According to the CDC, millions of teens use e-cigarettes, and more start every year. Normally, you’d use the e-cigarette’s mouthpiece to inhale the nicotine vapor.
People who drip say it tastes better and produces a thicker cloud of vapor, but it also increases the amount of nicotine and dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde.
Dr. Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, a Yale psychiatry professor, did the study. “When e-liquids are heated at high temperatures, like with dripping, they can produce high levels of carcinogenic compounds. We need a lot more work on trying to understand the safety of these alternate use behaviors.”
Krishnan-Sarin says schools should consider campaigns to get students to avoid dripping and other e-cigarette use until scientists have a better understanding of their health risks.