Researchers have discovered a chemical known as benzaldehyde in flavored e-cigarettes, mainly in cherry c-cigs, which can irritate airways of the users. A latest study has suggested that flavored e-cigarettes, specifically ones that taste like cherry, have a chemical in it that can irritate users’ lungs.

Benzaldehyde is a vastly used chemical, a flavoring agent that is generally found in food, medicines and cosmetics. Generally, the chemical is considered safe but can be dangerous if inhaled– mainly in long term. The chemical not just irritates airways but also the flavored e-cigarette vapor can cause irritation to eyes.

For the study, researchers analyzed 145 flavored e-cigarettes, including 40 berry/tropical fruit flavored, 11 coffee/tea, 11 chocolate/sweet, 10 mint/menthol, 37 tobacco, 15 alcohol, 10 cherry and 11 others. They took a total of 30 puffs from every e-cigarette to measure the amount of benzaldehyde.

The chemical Benzaldehyde was found in 108 out of 145 e-cigarettes whereas the highest levels were detected in cherry flavored e-cigarettes, which were nearly 43 times higher as compared to other flavored products.

Researchers wrote, “Users of cherry flavored products may inhale significantly higher doses of benzaldehyde compared with users of other flavored products”.

Furthermore, they compared the inhaled benzaldehyde dose from cherry flavored e-cigarettes with that of a conventional cigarette and discovered that it included higher levels of chemical in comparison to the regular cigarette.

The co-author of the study, Maciej Goniewicz from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, said that it could be the case that if an electronic cigarette user experiences some side effects, such as coughing, it could be attributed to the flavorings.

Several earlier studies have suggested that e-cigarettes are less harmful as compared to tobacco cigarettes because conventional cigarettes expose users to more than 7,000 chemicals, including 60 suspected carcinogens, a substance that leads to cancer directly.