Human Reproduction

Scientists have found a link between flavor chemicals in some vapes and pregnancy problems.

A report in the journal Human Reproduction claims the chemical compound vanillin, the primary organic ingredient responsible for the characteristic smell and taste of vanilla in e-cigarettes, could be disrupting the normal development of embryos in pregnant women who vape.

The authors believe vanillin might affect embryos through a receptor called TRPV4.

Human embryonic stem cells exposed to different concentrations of vanillin in lab tests, as well as an antibody that stops vanillin from binding to TRPV4 receptors and various combinations of the two, found the TRPV4 channel was used by vanillin to adversely impact the cells, with high concentrations tending to kill them and lower concentrations causing the cells to lose their ability to develop into any other type of cell.