In a staff report on your site about whether nonsmoking
actors use fake cigarettes when playing a part, the writer said there’s no such
thing as noncarcinogenic smoke, implying smoke is the primary danger. What
about the new electronic cigarettes—since they’re smokeless, are they
noncarcinogenic? —Amit Anand
Well, that’s the theory. Browsing online, we find claims
like this: “[Our] premier lineup of smokeless electronic cigarettes utilizes
innovative technology to provide a smoking experience without the dangers,
hassle and even expense of traditional cigarettes.” Here one recalls the
miracle drug diacetylmorphine, introduced in 1898 as a nonaddictive alternative
to morphine by Bayer. Diacetylmorphine is better known by its trade name,
Heroin. You see how well that worked out.
Like traditional smokes, electronic cigarettes, or
e-cigarettes, are a nicotine delivery device. The difference is that whereas
the paper-and-weed variety involves burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke,
e-cigarettes merely heat nicotine to produce vapor, and you breathe that—hence
the term “vaping.”
An e-cigarette consists of a mouthpiece, battery, some
electronics, a filament-type heater, and disposable cartridge containing
nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerin, and flavorings. When the electronics
detect that the smoker has taken a drag, they switch on the heating element,
warming air that’s pulled through the cartridge and vaporizing some of the
nicotine mix for easy inhaling. Many e-cigarettes are designed to mimic the
tobacco kind, often with a colored LED tip that glows.
These things clearly have their advantages. The absence of
combustion means no combustion byproducts—including tars, carbon monoxide, and
other noxious chemicals—and also no risk of fires and burns. Those in the user’s
vicinity don’t choke on tobacco smoke, although if you sit too close you can
still get a snootful of secondhand vapor.
Relatively little research has been done on e-cigarettes
since their appearance on the market roughly six years ago. However, while it
would be foolish to say they’re harmless, studies so far suggest they’re orders
of magnitude safer than conventional cigarettes.
In investigating e-cigs, the FDA has focused on two types of
chemicals: tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), which are carcinogenic, and
diethylene glycol (DEG), a plain old poison. E-cigarettes were found to provide
a 500- to 1400-fold reduction in TSNAs compared to traditional cigarettes, and
DEG was found in only one cartridge tested. Of 16 studies reviewed in 2010, none
found more than trace amounts of the carcinogens typical of tobacco smoke in
either the nicotine solution or the vapor thereof. Nonetheless, since there’s
no minimum safe level of a carcinogen, the FDA still warns against
e-cigarettes.
Though you’re not sucking in smoke with e-cigs, you are
inhaling vapor. One study reported that vaping for just five minutes made
breathing more difficult. The propylene glycol in the nicotine solution can
cause respiratory inflammation and increase asthma risk.
A test of 35 nicotine refills in various flavors found
several were toxic to human cells. Another study found that because of
contamination by the heating filament, some vapor contained tiny particles of
silica and metals such as tin, nickel, and chromium. Nine of 11 elements found
in e-cigarette vapor were at an equal or higher concentration than that found
in conventional cigarette smoke, with what fell implications no one knows.
But e-cigarettes can help reduce or eliminate smoking, even
among those not trying to quit. Researchers in Italy furnished a group of
volunteer smokers with e-cigarettes, excluding anyone who was consciously
trying to stop smoking and providing no encouragement to do so. Despite this,
22 of 27 participants had reduced their consumption of conventional cigarettes
by at least 50 percent after six months, and nine had quit altogether.
Other studies have found that despite delivering minimal
nicotine, e-cigarettes satisfy regular smokers and significantly reduce the
craving to smoke. Compared to things like nicotine patches, e-cigarettes may
make it easier to stop smoking because they preserve the rituals of the
cigarette. E-cigarette users we’ve talked to unanimously report the product is
a passable substitute for the real thing, though some say they still smoke an
occasional cigarette when under peer pressure.
Overall, the evidence to date strongly suggests e-cigarettes
beat smoking, which kills 443,000 Americans annually and is notoriously hard to
stop doing—among people who try to quit on their own, 80 percent relapse within
a month. Long-term research on health impacts is needed, and no doubt breaking
the nicotine habit altogether is preferable to vaping. But e-cigarettes look
like a good plan B.
Electronic Cigarettes for Sale
No comments:
Post a Comment