Vaping at high voltage creates formaldehyde releasing agents that may pose a much greater health risk from the cancer causing agent than traditional cigarettes, according to a Portland State University study.

Using a tank system e-cigarette with a variable voltage battery, five researchers discovered low power (3.3 V) did not release formaldehyde causing agents. But when the voltage was raised to 5.0 V, an analysis of aerosolized liquid collected in a tube indicated a lifetime cancer risk of five to 15 times greater than from long-term smoking at one pack of cigarettes a day, the researchers said in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.
“How formaldehyde-releasing agents behave in the respiratory tract is unknown, but formaldehyde is an International Agency for Research on Cancer group 1 carcinogen”, states the letter bearing the names of researchers R. Paul Jensen, Wentai Luo, James Pankow, Robert Strongin and David Peyton. “Formaldehyde-releasing agents may deposit more efficiently in the respiratory tract than gaseous formaldehyde, and so they could carry a higher slope factor for cancer.”