About the safety of the e-cigs

[herpo]

Hi all.

I've been searching for reliable information about vaping for a while now and it seems e-cigarette forum is one of the most active discussion forums online on the subject. As a smoker I have my own health at stake, so I decided to order a couple of starter packs of ecigs, also tried 'em and currently considering seriously quitting smoking. However, there's the nagging voice of the government health authorities at the back of my head, constantly flooding the newspapers with the patriarchal wisdom of not to try anything new and just stick to the good old cancer sticks or take the cigarette abstinence / officially approved nicotine replacement therapy currently available. I've also spent quite a lot of money on nicotine gum and plasters trying to quit the habit, but it seems that for me it's mostly the act of inhaling nicotine through a thick smoke that's what it's all about.

What comes to this forum, a really informative and convincing text has been written by rolygate in the health etc. section:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...sition-e-cigarettes-health-risk-analysis.html

There's however no links or references to back up it up so I wonder it the article is indeed based on facts? It's really difficult to decide whether it's just an opinion or a fact.

I'm a e-cig enthusiastic, actually trying to figure out how to market these devices (and nicotine) here without being sued and crucified by the health enthusiasts.

Any comments and criticism is appreciated.

 

[hrlw817]

Welcome to the ECF! E-cigs are generally considered safe, although, maybe not 100%. IMO I would, however, say they are 100 times safer than regular cigs. Cigs have over 2,000 chemicals. An e-cig has only a few chemicals, and even those are pretty much harmless.

Even though there hasn't been a lot of research done on e-cigs, the little bit of research that has been done has been positive.

 

[Yves]

Welcome to ECF I found this study some time ago on passive vaping that may help. I would agree that e cigs cannot be stated as 100% safe but they are for sure safer than smoking tobacco. So we are really discussing harm reduction when we use an e cig.

http://www.ecigarettedirect.co.uk/ashtray-blog/2012/08/passive-vaping.html

 

[bill63304]

I researched a ton before I started vaping. The long and short of it is they are very new and no long term studies have been completed. Now having said that, many people use that fact to drive their agenda, (just saying). My suggestion is to not take anyones word for it. Do plenty of research. I read the entire WIKI on e cigs, and after I did, I felt very comfortable trying them out. I suggest reading the whole way to the bottom. There have been several smaller studies completed by various entities and if you piece it all together, you start to get a pretty good feel for the level of safety. I will try to post the link below, but you can just google "ecig wiki"

Electronic cigarette - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Synesthetic]

My grandmother came back from Sweden with a chock full of anti-ecig information about holes in the brain, and something akin to what one would call chronic dysphoria. It was all hearsay. The other day my girlfriend found a report talking about dangerous chemicals in eliquid, trichlosamines or something similar sounding. If anyone is interested, I can try to look it up. Personally, I wrote it off the moment they had to "innocently" state that PG is a common ingredient in antifreeze. I always want to retort with the study of how dangerous dihydrogen monoxide sounds with the right language involved. :/

In terms of safety, 4-7 chemicals beats 4000-7000.

 

[EDGECRUSHER]

It boils down to this:
"For a smoker, the health hazards of continuing to smoke greatly outweigh any potential risks of using NRT – and of course, the latter can help you to quit"

More research is needed, but the accepted fact is none of us just picked up a PV and started using nicotine juice. We are all recovering smokers. What helps any one person stop smoking, and in a way that doesn't continue to harm them or others, is a big ... win.

 

[money4me247]

All I have to say about that subject is that tons of proven carcinogens have been found in cigarettes and cigarettes have been conclusively linked to cancer. So cigarettes DEFINITELY increase your risk of cancer.

E-juice on the other hand if you buy from reputable places are mainly composed of 3 chemicals (PG, VG, and nicotine) + flavoring. Nicotine is bad for you and inhaling particles in your lungs is worse than breathing unpolluted air, but there haven't been enough studies on the effects of inhaled PG & VG to really know for sure how toxic/safe it is. But think about, KNOWN carcinogens vs PG/VG? What can PG/VG do that is worse than cancer? At least, you aren't getting the tar and confirmed carcinogens.

 

[EDGECRUSHER]

Bears to be mentioned here:
"1942 study by Dr. Oswald Hope Robertson of the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital showed that Propylene glycol, the most prevalent ingredient in electronic cigarette cartridges, was found to possibly prevent pneumonia, influenza, and other respiratory diseases when vaporized and inhaled."
I had the study bookmarked in long form, I'll find it later when I'm back from work. In a basic nutshell, Dr. Robertson exposed monkeys to aerated PG 24/7 for months, and found no ill effects. Taken further, he introduced pathogens to two sets of monkeys (three groups total: the first being the control group, second the PG group) and the group not exposed to PG suffered the worst, while the PG group had zero effects still.

 

[gthompson]

Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division - dihydrogen monoxide info

Be afraid, be very afraid. And we drink that stuff every day, it's in our food, it's in the very air we breath. We're all doomed.

 

[recidivus]

The great thing about vaping, in my mind, is that all those smoke machines in clubs use the same chemicals. They've been in use longer than ecigs and I haven't heard of any reports of DJs developing cancers from them. Rock concerts, etc, same stuff and no reports of long term effects. It's not even an issue in the public eye, only reason ecigs are is because it's an ecig, not because of what's in it.

Same folks who rally against ecigs probably bought a smoke machine for a kids party...not an eyelash was batted.

 

[gthompson]

The bottom line is the potential loss of billions of dollars for big tobacco, big pharmacy, and the government, that's it and that's all.

 

[recidivus]

Don't forget research grants...won't get those if they find out they're safe.

 

[gthompson]

Without a lot of research, no one can say exactly how safe vaping is. I'm fairly sure not vaping is safer than vaping (assuming one isn't smoking instead), but the government, and BT, and BG can say all they want to about vaping being worse than smoking, and I'll continue to laugh at them. My body tells me different. I can taste, and smell, and breath again. I don't wake up in the morning hacking up a lung or coughing up big wads of phlegm (my gosh how nasty that all sounds in retrospect).

Very few of us are as stupid as they want to believe we are.

 

[recidivus]

I don't wake up in the morning hacking up a lung or coughing up big wads of phlegm

That there is one of the primary reasons I was desperate to quit, at least a year before I discovered vaping, and progressed into an "all day clearing" the months before. Pretty much completely gone now, gets better every week.

 

[ValDaves]

From what I heard the other day...the two major tobacco companies are now on the e-cig band wagon, because they saw how much $$ they were losing!

 

[zhailily2010]

One hand ,most chinese men smoke,the cigarette contain lots of nicotine ,but they just can not quite,the other hand, most of our electronic cigarette exported abroad .I got confused ,Why don't e-cigarette popular in domestic ? It takes time for them to like e-cigarette or something alse ? I want answers .

 

[recidivus]

My guess: No desire to stop. Plain and simple. You will never give up tobacco if you don't want to.

 

[tj99959]

Did you know that PG is atomized into the ventilation systems of convention centers, restaurants, and even hospitals to reduce airborne virus and bacteria? I've been vaping for about 1.5 years, and during that time no one in my household has had so much as the sniffles. No colds, no flu, nothing!
There are actually quite a few studies that are undergoing Pier Review at this time. One of the requirements of that process is that a study can't be published anywhere until the review process is completed. There is also the problem that "long term" studies take --get ready for this-- long term, so don't plan on seeing those studies published any time soon.

 

[EDGECRUSHER]

I'd like to make a Pier Review of Joe's Crab Shack in Huntington Beach versus Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on Pier 39 in San Fransisco.

I'm ribbing ya tj99959, by the way :]

 

[tater_salad]

tj, thanks for the info on the atomized PG in ventalation.. I"m going to have to take a peak at that and see what research I can dig up.