Are electronic cigarettes safe?
As the popularity of using an electronic cigarette as a substitute for a tobacco cigarette, the issue of safety is being discussed at great length. Answering the question, are electronic cigarettes safe, while it sort of depends on what articles you read, the resounding answer is yes.
Electronic cigarettes use only three ingredients: nicotine, propylene glycol and water vapor. Propylene glycol is an ingredient in many every day things such as food colorings. It is the ingredient that creates the appearance of smoke coming from the electronic cigarette.
Compared to a tobacco cigarette, which has literally hundreds of additives such as arsenic, ammonia, cyanide, carbon monoxide and many other known additives that have been proven to cause cancer, lung diseases and other extreme health problems, an electronic cigarette has only those three ingredients and is obviously better for you.
Electronic cigarettes have no flame or ashes that can cause fires. Fires started by cigarettes number in the thousands every year, and kill many people. Because there is no smoke involved, there is no problem with second-hand smoke so it is safe to use around children and people who have breathing problems. You can use them in places where smoking is not allowed.
One big advantage to an electronic cigarette is that they offer the user the opportunity to step down the amount of nicotine they are inhaling. This is a huge help to those who are trying to stop smoking all together. By gradually stepping down the nicotine, it can help people to reduce their dependency and eventually quit. This is a huge advantage!
So, yes, electronic cigarettes are safe. They are also much cheaper than buying traditional tobacco cigarettes, don’t leave your clothes and house smelling of smoke and they still give you that satisfaction of holding it, feeling the ‘smoke’ go into your throat and yet don’t have all the harmful additives.
Read MoreElectronic cigarettes: good, bad or both?
A recent yet striking invention is the electronic cigarette. As the name suggests, it is the electronic counterpart of the ordinary cigarette. A mechanism quite simple yet smart, the electronic cigarette has hit the markets hard. But since the invention is a recent one researchers are still in the debate whether or not the device is as safe as it claims or is it just another ‘smoking disaster’.
Claims about the electronic cigarette:
Also known as e-cigarettes, the electronic cigarettes provide the flavour and sensation of the cigarette but does not leave behind the odour that comes with normal cigarettes. It also claims to have reduced adverse effects of the cigarettes. Although as good as it sounds this is mainly harming the young generation of non-smokers who feel rather ‘satisfied’ of having found such a device, but unaware that the device may be doing more harm than good. Since controlled experiments have not been accomplished on the product the researchers are on a debate to judge the factuality of the claims and much like the researchers the government too is in a dilemma. Whether or not the device will receive the full permission to be marketed is yet undetermined. Some regions do not allow such device, some do and some just allow a few designs which they feel are ‘safe’.
Specs about the electronic cigarette:
The electronic cigarette looks more like its counterpart but comes in the shape of a pen or a screwdriver. The device consists of parts that may be replaced, refilled or disposed off. Different designs offer different features. The three main parts of the device are as follows:
- The cartridge: a small absorbing sponge-like element that is saturated with the liquid to be vaporised. It is often used in adjacent to a mouth piece. When the cartridge has ‘dried off’ it is either replaced or refilled with more liquid. Some users avoid the cartridge and pour liquid right into the atomiser, this method is known as ‘dripping’. Some manufacturers have speial design to accommodate such usage.
- Atomiser: the atomiser is a heating element that consumes power from the battery and vaporises the liquid. Over time the atomiser gets filled with sediments or burns out and requires replacement which often proves expensive compared to other replaceable parts.
- The battery: this is usually small and is only intended to provide power to the atomizer. Most batteries of this sort are rechargeable.
A Good cigarette: electronic cigarettes
Just as the world of electronics does not cease to amaze us, the people too do not cease to invent and develop. If we look back a few centuries, the time would seem prehistoric! Apple, Microsoft and other developers have competed the 21st century beyond its limit of development. With more and more talents working in the sector it will not be long before the world would have a digitalized counterpart.
Electronic cigarettes, a win-win or not:
With the invention of the electronic cigarettes people have fallen into another dilemma. The device resembles an ordinary cigarette and performs similarly but at a much lower risk and less safety hazard. It creates a ‘mist’ or vapour by vaporising the liquid in it and then the mist is inhaled. The inhaled mist offers the same sensation, flavour and often contain nicotine but does not leave the odour like its ordinary counterpart. The electronic cigarette contains refillable parts but some models are disposable. There are still ongoing debates about its much ‘over-stated’ safety acclaims and hence the government can neither deny nor accept the full marketing of the device. Some regions accept it, while others don’t and some only allow the parts and liquid which they ‘feel’ is safe. The true harm is being done to the young generations, mainly non smokers, who feel attracted by the fact that they can be smoking without the side effects but the real story does not prevail that way.
Specifications about the electronic cigarettes:
The electronic cigarette mainly consists of three parts although other designs may have other feature or less features befitting their design. The three main parts are:
- Cartridge: the cartridge is a small, often disposable sponge-like absorbing medium connected with a mouth piece. The cartridge contains the liquid which is to be vaporised, it is often saturated with it. When the liquid is all vaporised and used up the user may replace it with a pre filled cartridge or just add more liquid to it.
- Atomizer: this is the heating unit that heats up and vaporises the liquid. Over time the atomizer fills up with sediments or completely burns out requiring replacement. This is usually the most expensive replacement in the electronic cigarette.
- Cartomizer: to overcome the expense of replacing an atomiser, experts have come up with a component that involves both an atomizer and a cartridge. The burnt out atomizer is replaced with these cheaper counterparts.
Specifications and Concerns Regarding Electronic Cigarettes
Yes, as the name suggests it is an electronic device that performs the action of smoking usually that of in cigarettes. Cigarettes have caused a lot of concern throughout centuries and have created a bad buzz for itself, but none smokers are aware but do not know to what depth it can harm a person and sometimes feel the fuss is unnecessary. Smokers however know of it and most do not care or are helpless against the addiction. Whatever the cause, cigarettes have been a big issue and since everything has its electronic counterparts; hence were born the electronic cigarette.
Specifications about the electronic cigarettes:
An electronic cigarette or an e-cigarette produces the effect of smoking by vaporising a liquid which is then inhaled like that in nebulizer or humidifier. The ‘mist’ or vapour often contains the physical sensation, flavour and usually nicotine like that in cigarettes but does not create an odour like its non-electronic counterpart. The electronic cigarettes often resemble the tobacco pipes and take the shape of pens or screwdrivers, since these are the best fit shapes for the mechanism to fit in. Most electronic cigarettes are made of inter changeable or refill able parts whereas some are also made disposable.
Concerns regarding the electronic cigarettes:
The electronic cigarettes are often used as safer substitution to smoking. The device is said to be able to provide the sensation of smoking a cigarette without delivering the adverse effects of it, but some critics believe otherwise. Experts are still working to verify the claims made and the degree of advantage offered but just like its counterpart, the device is a recent invention but its popularity reached sky heights in a short time. But the device is particularly harmful for the non-smokers, mainly the children who are overwhelmed by the novelty, flavour and unparallel claims about safety. There are ongoing debates between researchers regarding the product and since they cannot confirm nor deny, the government too is in a dilemma. This means that some regions are in debate of allowing the purchase of such a device and yet cannot completely deny it.
Origin of the electronic cigarettes:
Electronic cigarette was first invented by a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik in 2003 and the product was marketed the following year by the Golden Dragon Holdings for he worked. The company later changed their name to Ruyan (meaning ‘resembles smoking’) and received the first patent for their product in 2007.