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A study from the Portland State University showed the existence of formaldehyde in electronic cigarette vapor when a high-voltage was used to produce the vapor (essentially, when overheating the device). Devices using low-voltage (more common among e-cig users) produced no measurable formaldehyde.

Media took this study immediately and began spinning it as proof that electronic cigarettes were as deadly — and likely more deadly — than conventional cigarettes. They based this on the fact that formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and more formaldehyde must mean more cancer. However, this ignores two things: 1) that under normal circumstances, little to no formaldehyde is found in e-cig vapor, and 2) that other constituents in cigarette smoke cause varying levels of harm far greater than that of e-cig vapor.

Even the New England Journal of Medicine tweeted about the study stating that “Authors project higher cancer risk than smoking.”

But according to coverage from Joe Nocera at the New York Times, the researchers themselves were not happy with the way their research was spun.

According to one of the researchers: ““It is exceedingly frustrating to me that we are being associated with saying that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than cigarettes. That is a fact not in evidence.” He also explicitly disagreed with the characterization of the NEJM tweet.

Jacob Sullum — a voice of reason in the debate over electronic cigarettes — had already debunked the value of the study.