Electronic cigarettes have been around for years, as early as 2000. Millions of people use them every day to satisfy their cravings and to keep their habits at bay, whilst still maintaining a healthy lifestyle. But, just how healthy are these electronic cigarettes? They have been billed as ‘the healthy alternative’, but are they? Really?
Electronic Cigarettes’ popularity is due to a number of reasons. The electronic cigarette is a much cheaper solution than standard cigarettes; the base unit usually costs around $30, and the equivalent to 20 cigarettes costs around $0.70. So, in comparison to normal cigarettes and electronic cigarette is dirt cheap. The electronic cigarettes are also noted to be harmless, containing only harmless chemicals and the nicotine that you need to satisfy your cravings.
Below is a list of the harmless chemicals found inside an electronic cigarette:
Propylene glycol
Nicotine
Glycerol
Tobacco essence
Essence
Organic acid
Anti-oxidation agent
Butyl valerate
Isopentyl hexonate
Lauryl laurate
Benzyl benzoate
Methyl octynicate
Ethyl heptylate
Hexyl hexanoate
Geranyl butyrate
Menthol
Citric acid
Water
Alcohol
2,3,5-Trimethylpyrazine
2,3,5,6-Tetramethylpyrazine
2,3-Dimethylpyrazine
Acetylpyrazine
Terpineol
Ethyl maltol
Guaiacol
Acetylpyridine
Octalactone
Some of these chemicals seem intimidating, but they are, infact, all harmless, especially in such minute quantities.
The smoke that is inhaled from electronic cigarettes isn’t actually smoke – it’s water vapor. A lot of electronic cigarettes are known as vaporisors, and smoking them is known as ‘vaping’, a term that has caught on especially well over the last year or two. This smoke is one of the things that makes users feel that they may be doing themselves physical harm by smoking the electronic cigarette. They feel that they are polluting their bodies and lungs by breathing it in. The reality is, though, that they are simply inhaling condensed water, which has the same effect as standing in a greenhouse for 15-20seconds – absolutely nothing.
The electronic cigarette isn’t the first attempt to make smoking healthy… or healthier. Ever since the Surgeon General came to the conclusion that smoking real cigarettes is actually bad for your health and hazardous to your body, smokking companies have tried their upmost to try and reduce the number of toxins; including tar and carbon monoxide, from their cigarettes, to try and create a more healthy smoking experience.
Not only do electronic cigarettes make it more healthy to smoke, they also make it more convenient. The electronic cigarette doesn’t give off any heat, so there is no risk of burning yourself or others, often a pain when smoking real cigarettes. This brings us back to the same issue about the smoke, or lack of it. Because there is no real smoke, there is nothing to make your or your clothes smell, or to make others around your feel uncomfortable.
Smokeless cigarettes were, at first, treated with caution by both the general public and members of the medical profession. People were unsure of the health effects and implications of such a device. Although times have changed greatly since then, with many of the electronic cigarettes being developed and researched, aswell as manufacturred throughout China and the US. The electronic cigarette is now available froma large number of vendors from all around the world, including Europe, Asia, The Middle East, USA and Africa.
The electronic cigarette can also be used to wean smokers off cigarettes completely. Because of the ease and ability to switch between different strengths of cartridges and liquids, it’s possible to gradually make each electronic cigarette that you smoke a little bit weaker, thus making your addiction weaker, and your need to smoke less. Most electronic cigarette vendors sell their cartridges in very high, high, medium, low and none for nicotine content, making it possible to wean yourself off cigarettes very easily. The nicotine-less cartridges are used to allow you to wean yourself off the feeling of smoking, even when your body no longer craves the nicotine itself.
Although electronic cigarettes have been rendered safe by most governments and medical boards, it is possible that some people are sensitive or allergic to nicotine itself. This isn’t exclusive with electronic cigarettes, as the same effects would be shown with traditional cigarettes too. It is also recommended to not smoke electronic cigarettes if you are pregnant or breast feeding due to the nicotine content within them, this also follows if you are smoking nicotine-less cartridges due to any residual nicotine that there could be within the electronic cigarette.
