Give up vaping if you want children, women told: Alarming study suggests e-cigs may damage fertility

Vaping may be unwittingly damage women's fertility, alarming research suggests.

Experts discovered female e-cigarette users have consistently lower levels of anti-mullerian hormone (AMH).

AMH roughly indicates of a woman's egg supply, acting as a marker of fertility. 

Scientists today urged women who vape to quit the habit altogether to avoid 'thwarting' their chances of getting pregnant. 

Dr Helen O'Neill, a lecturer in reproductive and molecular genetics at University College London, said: 'This is the first piece of evidence to show a link between fertility and vaping across a large population. 

'It shows that AMH is suppressed in vapers compared to non-vapers, in a similar way to what has already been shown in smokers.' 

Vaping while pregnant is only recommended by the NHS as alternative to smoking, which is considered more dangerous to an unborn child.

However, the health service acknowledges the risks of vaping while pregnant are still unknown and it's better for expectant mums to stop completely if possible.

Some studies have warned of an increased risk of miscarriages.

But the risks of vaping on fertility are even less understood.

The new study, not published in a medical journal, analysed blood samples from more than 8,000 women.

No other details of the research, first reported by The Times, were shared.  

Figures released last week also suggest vaping usage among women aged 18 to 45 has more than tripled in a decade.

One in five (19.7 per cent) used e-cigarettes in 2023, up from the 5.1 per cent logged in 2013.  

Hertility, a female reproductive health clinic, found 22 per cent of women actively trying to conceive admitted to regularly or occasionally vaping.

More than one in four (27 per cent) who hope to have children in the future also said they used e-cigs, according to its poll. 

Dr O'Neill, Hertility's chief executive, said women planning to get pregnant should be given clear guidance of 'no drinking, no vaping, no smoking, no drugs'.

Evidence, however, has suggested that AMH levels are a poor predictor of current and future fertility in women, given the test does not provide an indication of egg quality or the speed of egg count decline.

One Australian study published last year in the journal JAMA Network Open said AMH tests, which are widely available online, are unlikely to be useful for individual women because of the broad age range they cover.

E-cigs allow people to inhale nicotine in a vapour — which is produced by heating a liquid. 

Unlike traditional cigarettes, they do not contain tobacco, nor do they produce tar or carbon — two of the most dangerous elements and partly why they are considered a safer alternative. 

Soaring usage rates in children have sparked fears that younger generations are sleepwalking into a public health crisis. 

Data shows one in five kids has tried vaping while the number of youngsters using the devices has tripled in the past three years.

This is despite it being illegal for under-18s to be sold a vape.

Earlier this month MailOnline also revealed the number of adverse side effects linked to vaping reported to UK regulators has now eclipsed 1,000, with five of them fatal. 

All five deaths were linked to respiratory and cardiovascular health problems.

Some reported digestive issues such as diarrhoea or flatulence, and even one case of rectal haemorrhaging, linked to their vape use. 

One woman, or her medic, also reported suffering a miscarriage while using a vape.