List of Pros and Cons of E-Cigs
E-cigarettes are making a big splash today. What is it that makes people turn to them? Some say it’s because you can smoke them practically anywhere. Others say it puts them on the road to quitting smoking altogether. There are actually some people who are afraid of them.
The FDA wants to regulate them (of course) as being medical products. However, the e-cig industry doesn’t believe they have any reason to do it. As with any new technology and products, there are both pros and cons to using them. Knowing what they are and how they work is the first step.
What Are They?
An e-cigarette is a battery-powered device that holds liquid nicotine. The nicotine is dissolved into a solution of propylene glycol and water. Most of them resemble regular cigarettes and have white cylindrical tubes with a brown filter and a tip that glows red. Some of them look a bit different.
How Do They Work?
Smoking e-cigarettes is commonly referred to as ‘vaping’. When you puff on them a battery inside heats the nicotine up and creates a vapor that you inhale into your lungs. The result is receiving the sensation of inhaling smoke into your mouth and lungs but without actually smoking.
List of Pros of E-Cigs
1. To date there are no laws prohibiting their use in public.
2. Research shows that a test of 40-dependent tobacco smokers who changed to smoking e-cigarettes alleviated their desire to smoke.
3. A different study comprised of 50 smokers with the goal of reducing their health risks from smoking without quitting completely, showed that when they smoked the ‘Eclipse’ brand of e-cig it decreased their cigarette consumption dramatically and without the usual withdrawal symptoms.
4. In another case studies there were 3 participants. They all had well documented histories of numerous failed attempts to quit smoking, even after using professional assistance methods to quit. They were able to quit and to sustain their abstinence over a period of at least 6 months.
List of Cons of E-Cigs
1. A research paper that was published in ‘Tobacco Control’ in 2010 suggested that e-cigs lack some important regulatory factors like proper labeling, health warnings, safe disposal methods, and clear instructions for using them. They also found that some e-cig cartridges leaked and had the potential of causing toxic nicotine exposure.
2. A 2011 study published in ‘CHEST’ revealed that e-cigs, after only 5 minutes of smoking, cause some acute pulmonary effects (however they also pointed out that the effects might not hold any clinical significance).
3. On the FDA website, they state that e-cigs may contain certain ingredients know to be toxic, as well as other ingredients that might not be safe. Because manufacturers aren’t required to submit any clinical data to the FDA, the public has no solid knowledge of whether or not e-cigs are harmful or safe to use.