There are mixed opinions concerning the safety of e-cigs. Some people say they are safer than regular tobacco filled cigarettes and some people say they are just as harmful. To determine which group of people you belong to you will need to look at the facts concerning these electronic devices and then decide for yourself.
The Nicotine Levels in E-Cigarettes
We all know that nicotine is a habit forming substance in cigarettes. Nicotine is harmful to your health and it is the main reason why people who start to smoke find it hard to stop smoking later. Your body becomes addicted to, and dependent on nicotine. As time goes by you have to ingest increasingly higher doses of nicotine to satisfy your need for it.
All tobacco products contain nicotine. Electronic cigarettes come in different varieties. Some versions have nicotine in them and some of them are nicotine free. In the versions of electronic cigarettes that contain nicotine you get to choose how much nicotine you want to ingest. You can gradually reduce the amount of nicotine in your e-liquid and wean yourself off of the substance.
Because you get to choose the amount of nicotine your cigarette contains when you use the e-cigs this makes them less harmful than real tobacco products are.
Harmful Chemicals Present in E-Cigs
Cigarettes made from tobacco contain many harmful chemicals that can cause cancer, increase your risk of heart disease, increase your risk for strokes, increase your risk for developing COPD, asthma, and respiratory conditions, and even cause damage to people who breathe in the smoke you exhale.
E-cigs are not completely free of hazardous chemicals. The majority of the harmful chemicals that are found in tobacco cigarettes can be found in some electronic versions, but the concentration of the chemicals is so low in the electronic versions that they do not pose the same health risks to the smoker.
You must carefully examine the ingredients that are used to make the e-liquids that you use with your electronic device. There are more than five hundred different brands of electronic cigarettes and liquids for those cigarettes. There are more than seven thousand flavor combinations, and strength combinations of e-liquids being sold. There are also people who make and mix their own e-liquids.
Not all e-liquids are made with the same quality ingredients. You are going to find that some manufacturers take short cuts to reduce their production cost and they buy inferior ingredients to use in their products. Some manufacturers even add harmful chemicals like the known cancer causing agent formaldehyde. Some have even placed diacetyl in their e-liquids to enhance the flavour. The problem with diacetyl is that it has been linked to a lung condition called popcorn lung. Popcorn lung has been responsible for killing a large number of factory workers in the United Kingdom.
If you purchase electronic cigarettes and the e-liquids for those cigarettes that are made of high quality ingredients, then the electronic version is likely to be safer for you to smoke than a traditional tobacco filled cigarette is.
Other things to consider about E-Cigs
E-cigs produce a vapour and not a smoke. The vapour produced by these electronic devices is thought not to be harmful to other people in the same room as the e-cig smoker by some, but others disagree. This means that the secondary smoke health issues that are prevalent with cigarettes and cigars is though not exist with e-cigs, but the truth is it may just be too early to tell.
E-cigs are not actually burning like traditional cigarettes are. Traditional cigarettes are made of tobacco that is shredded and dried. The tobacco is stuffed into a paper tube and then lit on fire. You can be burned if you come into contact with the burning end of a cigarette or with the bits of ash that can fall from the cigarette onto your lap, or your furniture. Because an electronic cigarette is less likely to catch your home on fire, or cause burns, you can say that they are safer to smoke than a traditional cigarette is.
The only safe way to smoke is to never start the habit. If you are going to smoke cigarettes or e-cigs then you must weigh the consequences of both smoking styles and decide which is the lesser of the two evils.