To accompany feature “Concerns explode over new health risks of vaping”

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

1.  What is an e-cigarette, and how does it differ from a traditional tobacco cigarette?

2.  Many places around the world have laws banning the sale of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18 or 19. Why?

During Reading:

1.  Electronic cigarettes don’t contain the tobacco found in conventional cigarettes. Is smoking e-cigs a safe activity?

2.  What are fibroblasts?

3.  Why is Irfan Rahman studying wound healing in people who vape and those who do not? What are those studies starting to show?

4.  What is bronchitis?

5.  How is vaping related to bronchitis?

6.  Why did the government ban flavorings, except for menthol, from being used in tobacco products?

7.  Why does Adam Goldstein believe that flavorings should be removed from e-cigarettes?

8.  Name three toxic substances that have been found in e-cig vapors.

9.  Why is it concerning that a study found benzene in e-cigarette vapors?

10.  How might “dripping” be more dangerous than simple vaping?

After Reading: 

1.  Do you think that the researchers cited in this story are exaggerating the concerns that vaping may pose or not? Explain why you feel that way using information from the story to justify your answer.

2.  Choose one of the studies mentioned in the article. What questions does the study leave unanswered? How might those answers be found? With a partner, design a follow-up study.

MATHEMATICS

1.  One study mentioned in the story surveyed 2,000 Los Angeles, Calif., students about their vaping habits. Using information from the story, calculate the percentage that said they had vaped at some point. What percentage were frequent vapers?