What you should know about the dangers of E Cigarettes

The glamorized campaign for Electronic cigarettes and ‘vaping’ has swept into a pop culture and presently there is no government oversight on these products.  They are the rage in promotion ads and increasingly popular among youth.  E-cigarettes are marketed as a healthy alternative to traditional cigarette smoking and the new wave to transition smokers out of a cigarette habit. ¹

While e-cigarettes may be considered a safe ‘smoking’ alternative, the American Lung Association has concerns about the potential health consequences of e-cigarettes and the unproven claims that they can be used to help smokers quit.

From the year 2011 to 2015, there was a 900 percent increase of high school students that are now using e-cigarettes in place of regular cigarettes. ²

E-Cigarettes are high tech, highly addictive products that convert liquid into vapor and as the user inhales, it is known as “vaping”.  Even though e-cigarettes do not produce tobacco smoke, they contain nicotine and other potentially harmful chemicals.

With extensive comments filed with the FDA in 2014, the American Lung Association made an appeal to regulate all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.  On May 5, 2016, the FDA made a public announcement that they were taking authority over these unregulated products. ³

There are many reasons our youth are choosing e-cigarettes.  Many teens believe there is a ‘cool’ factor to vaping without understanding the long term effects.  Social media and other ads hype it as a craze and peddle it as a safe alternative to regular cigarettes.

When considering an alternative for smoking, the concern with vaping is that the aerosol emitted from e-cigarettes may not be safe and the U.S. Surgeon General has found that these products expose users to several harmful components including nicotine, carbonyl compounds and volatile organic compounds. 4

For more information on e-cigarettes, check out Part 2.

Sources:

  1. http://www.socpa.com/for-parents/articles/what-are-e-cigarettes-and-why-are-they-so-popular/
  2. http://www.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2016; https://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/ProductsIngredientsComponents/ucm456610.htm
  3. http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/tobacco/oversight-and-regulation/statement-on-e-cigarettes.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
  4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. 2014 (2)