Study shows that vaping nicotine while pregnant may impact fetal development

A University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus team have found that vaping nicotine during pregnancy may be no safer for a developing fetus than smoking cigarettes. The study suggests that vaping nicotine interferes with fetal bone and lung development.

The paper was published in Developmental Biology.

Dr Emily Bates, an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said, “Pregnant women are increasingly turning to vaping with electronic cigarettes as a perceived safer alternative to cigarettes. However, nicotine disrupts fetal development, suggesting that, like cigarette smoking, nicotine vaping may be detrimental to the fetus. Nicotine passes through the placenta to the fetal circulation, where it can accumulate to reach higher levels than in the maternal plasma. This disrupts the development of multiple organs and systems.”