How much safer is vaping than smoking? How much money will I save from switching to vaping from cigarettes on average? What are the main risks of vaping? How does smoking effect the environment? We will cover these questions and debunk a few myths along the way.
Third World Skeptical kid is skeptical
Vaping has been found by the government of the UK to be at least 95% safer than smoking cigarettes. Why trust the goverment of the UK you might ask? The UK Government is one of the biggest insurers in the entire world, responsible for the health care for the vast majority of Britons.
This study is really bad news for big pharmaceutical companies and big tobacco. Publicists and lobbyists have flooded social media and other outlets with false propaganda on vaping in a failing effort to protect profits.
After seeing many studies come out saying vaping is safer than smoking, it makes one think some serious lobbying dollars have also been spent influencing the F.D.A. into taking actions we have seen in the past year.
Compared to cigarettes there is really no comparison on which is safer, yet in newspapers, major websites and the TV news all we hear about is how dangerous e-cigs are. The carcinogens and bi products in cigarettes is a very long and disturbing list. Common estimatesshow that tobacco companies include 559 additives to cigarettes there are over 4000 chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Yikes! Somehow we are supposed to get the impression that vaping is more dangerous.
If the vaping community used the same scare tactics as Big Tobacco, we would write it up something like the following: Here is a list of some products that contain chemicals that are also in cigarettes:
However, we actually have some ethics.
Smokers inhale all these chemicals to get nicotine. It is not the nicotine that causes the cancer and all the other health problems that stem from smoking. It is caused by the tar and smoke created when the plant material is burnt.
The tar is what contains all those harmful chemicals and carcinogens that I listed above and the smoke causes most of health diseases. In between half and two thirds of life long smokers will die from their habit and smoking causes erectile dysfunction.
Nicotine is the only some what harmful chemical of any quantity involved in vaping. It is similar to caffeine, but far more potent.
Be warned however: Nicotine is a poison and can kill you if an extreme overdose occurs. The most common way people are exposed to a large dose of nicotine is through e-liquid or e-liquid supplies. We talk more about the question whether e-liquid is dangerous elsewhere.
Most e liquid has propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG) and various flavor additives all of which are considered mostly harmless. Flavorings can trigger irritate some allergies due to the fact that they are extracts from fruits or plants that trigger allergies.
Regarding second hand vapor, a study done by peer-reviewed medical journal, found that there is no apparent risk to human health from e cigarette emissions based on the compounds they analyzed.
Results: The study showed that e-cigarettes are a source of secondhand exposure to nicotine but not to combustion toxicants. The air concentrations of nicotine emitted by various brands of e-cigarettes ranged from 0.82 to 6.23 µg/m3. The average concentration of nicotine resulting from smoking tobacco cigarettes was 10 times higher than from e-cigarettes (31.60±6.91 vs. 3.32±2.49 µg/m3, respectively; p = .0081). Conclusions: Using an e-cigarette in indoor environments may involuntarily expose nonusers to nicotine but not to toxic tobacco-specific combustion products. More research is needed to evaluate health consequences of secondhand exposure to nicotine, especially among vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant women, and people with cardiovascular conditions.
Another myth or should I say propaganda. Nice play from big tobacco on this one. This propaganda has reached and influenced millions of people and falls under the category of fake news.
Rolling Stone has a amazing article on the agenda of people trying to make it seem as if the dangers of e cigarettes and tobacco are interchangeable and perhaps even more scary. This scare mongering keeps people from saving their own health by getting off of traditional cigarettes.
Campaigns by anti-smoking groups have successfully fostered the perception that the risks of e-cigs are interchangeable from ordinary cigarettes, and the mainstream media has largely followed in step, with much of the reporting on e-cigs focused on the sensational (exploding devices!) and the apocalyptic (worse than tobacco!).
There is no science behind it first of all. The diacetyl in some E liquids when vaping first came of age was very prevalent in the beginning as it is found in buttery flavorings.
According to the misleading Harvard study the news media used to scare consumers about e-liquid causing popcorn lung, there is 85 times more diacetyl in one cigarette than a whole cartridge of e-juice.
Here is a great article regarding the study about diacetyl in vape juice - Media Bias Exposed: ‘Popcorn Lung’ Chemical 750 Times Greater In Tobacco Vs. E-Cigarettes.
With all that said, I want to emphasize you can't hardly find e-liquid containing diacetyl anymore. If it still bothers you just double check on the manufactuers website when buying your e-liquid.
1. Antifreeze is in e-liquid - False. An ingredient in e liquid called propylene glycol (PG) is also found in some antifreeze. The funny part about this myth is that PG is in antifreeze to make the antifreeze less harmful if ingested.
2. Nicotine Causes cancer - False. This is another scare tactic or perhaps just a widespread misconception. Nicotine is not a carcinogen. There has been an enormous amount of studies on this and there is no link between nicotine and cancer other than the fact that nicotine is in tobacco. The thousands of chemicals and carcinogens generated by combustion cause the cancer.
3. E-cigs Are Explosive - Partially True. Vapes don't explode on their own. E-cigs are no more likely to explode than your cell phone when used properly. A lot of the exploding vaporizer stories that we have seen has been from someone improperly using an unregulated mod as opposed to more modern regulated mods.
However, you should not keep your vape in your pocket (especially if it isn't clearly turned off). Keep extra batteries in a plastic carrying case and always make sure your battery wraps are not torn. Torn battery wraps can cause a short when the side of the battery comes in contact with ground.
Batteries can ignite or discharge due to shortages or being drained improperly. Every user should be familiar with Ohms law and battery safety.
4. Vaping Products Are Not Regulated - False. That was true until a few months back now the FDA and state governments have gone overboard. The vape community and manufacturers did a wonderful job policing themselves before all these regulations in my opinion.
The regulations on the vape industry are mind blowing proving how scared big pharma and big tobacco lobbies are by how successful vaping is as a smoking alternative or smoking cessation device.
5. Vaping is more expensive than smoking - Absolutely false. The leading sentence from a fair article at Time Magazine is: "The pack-a-day smoker can save around $1,200 per year by vaping." That calculation makes a large number of assumptions.
A budget vaper can save even more money by building their own coils instead of buying pre-made coil inserts and making their own DIY e-juice.
disclaimer: this is just information. I am not a scientist, doctor or electrical engineer. BVP is not resposible for any decisions you make when utilizing this information. When it comes to safety and health the resposibility is on you the user to do your own research and make your own informed decision on your actions