Nicotine - Myth - Nicotine Causes Cancer

Looking at the myth that nicotine causes cancer (also a frequently asked question)

• People who smoke tobacco are known to have high rates of cancer. A common misperception is that it's the nicotine that causes the cancer. This myth makes using safer nicotine products a concern for people who are trying to quit smoking. Below we will debunk the junk science making those claims by showing you the studies, articles, and commentary by experts explaining why the cancer myth isn't true. You'll be surprised at the number of medical professionals who have been told this myth and haven't seen the science that proves the truth!

2015: Study Causing Myth Electronic cigarettes induce DNA strand breaks and cell death independently of nicotine in cell lines

• • Article about the study: E-cigarettes are NO better than regular smoking: Devices can 'cause cancer even when they're nicotine FREE'
• 2016: Study That Busts The Myth Exposure to Nicotine and Selected Toxicants in Cigarette Smokers Who Switched to Electronic Cigarettes: A Longitudinal Within-Subjects Observational Study
  • After switching from tobacco to e-cigarettes, nicotine exposure remains unchanged, while exposure to selected carcinogens and toxicants is substantially reduced.
  • Article about the study: This Study Is The Last Thing Anti-E-Cig Crusaders Want To See
    • The Roswell Park findings run counter to what lead author of a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) study, Jessica Wang-Rodriguez, told The Daily Mail.
    • The study found e-cigs are as effective as conventional cigarettes at delivering nicotine to the user, but e-cig users showed a decreased rate of exposure to specific carcinogens and toxins
    • The DCNF reported in December that not only were the cells used in the UCSD study “not completely comparable to cells within a living person,” but the dosage was comparable to someone smoking “for hours on end,” so it wasn’t representative of real world e-cig use. Further, the cell cultures already had “squamous cell carcinoma,” meaning the cells already had cancer.
    • "All this study is highlighting is the fact that exposing already cancerous cells to cigarette smoke, nicotine or vapor may accelerate cell death, but of course, only if you swim in it,” Paul Barnes of Facts Do Matter told The DCNF in December.
• 2013: Study That Busts The Myth Levels of selected carcinogens and toxicants in vapour (vapor) from electronic cigarettes
  • The aim of this study was to screen e-cigarette vapours (vapors) for content of four groups of potentially toxic and carcinogenic compounds: carbonyls, volatile organic compounds, nitrosamines and heavy metals.
  • The levels of the toxicants were 9-450 times lower than in cigarette smoke and were, in many cases, comparable with trace amounts found in the reference product (prescription nicotine inhaler).
  • Our findings are consistent with the idea that substituting tobacco cigarettes with e-cigarettes may substantially reduce exposure to selected tobacco-specific toxicants.

Doctors and Medics Nicotine Misperceptions

• Do our medical professionals have a clear understanding of safer forms of nicotine use? Browsing the medics misperceptions page might surprise you as to the depth of the bad rap that's been given to nicotine!

Public and Media Nicotine Misperceptions

• Due to all the misinformation, it's easy to see why the public is as confused about safer nicotine as the medical professionals are. We're collecting data on that confusion on the public & media misperceptions page.