Electronic cigarettes are gradually becoming increasingly popular amid rising tobacco prices and all kinds of smoking bans in public places. Many people are sure that using such devices is absolutely safe. Is that so? Is vape harmful to health? What substances are contained in the liquid for refueling such cigarettes? Do vapes stop smoking? We will try to answer these and other questions in our material.
A brief excursion into history
The author of the innovation is a Chinese inventor named Hong Lik. A rather sad story led to the decision to create an electronic cigarette. In his youth, Hon was very addicted to smoking. However, he decided to engage in addiction when his father suddenly died due to the development of lung cancer. An example made a man seriously think about his own health and attitude to life in general. From that moment, Hon Lick began to devote all his free time to developing a device that would allow him to win the war on tobacco addiction. The inventor achieved his goal in 2004, when the world's first electronic cigarette was introduced to the public.
What is vape?
An electronic cigarette acts as a kind of inhaler. The device operates on battery power. Aromatic liquid is placed in a special cartridge. When tightened, the spiral is heated, which heats the composition, turning the latter into water vapor. According to the structure and appearance, it is practically no different from ordinary smoke, which occurs when smoking a regular cigarette.
After tightening, the vape battery is turned off. The heating element is gradually cooled. Most models of electronic cigarettes contain a special button that activates the battery. However, there are vapes where steam generation is automatic when puffing is performed.
Fluid composition
Vape refills consist of just a few components. Nicotine is not always present in such liquids. At the same time, the properties of each of the substances used are well known, in contrast to the same many chemicals that are in tobacco smoke. So, what is the composition of the vape:
- Propylene glycol is a substance that is widely used in the food industry. In liquid for electronic cigarettes it is added in order to create the effect of strength by inhalation of vapor.
- Food glycerin is another safe substance. It is responsible for maximally thick fumes when vape smoking.
- Water - acts as a solvent for the remaining components of the liquid and softens the structure of the vapor.
- Aromatic substances - form the tastes of vape.
- Nicotine - may be present in the liquid at the request of the consumer. There is a whole mass of vape dressing products that do not have this substance.
Cigarettes, hookah or vape? To independently answer this question, just look at the above composition of liquids for refueling electronic cigarettes. As you can see, the main components of such products are additives that are actively used in the food industry.
Does smoking an e-cigarette harm others ?
In civilized countries, bans on the use of tobacco products in public places have long been practiced. However, is vape harmful to the health of others? Carcinogens are absent in special fluids, but nicotine is sometimes present in them. The latter is completely no different from the substance that is contained in the smoke of ordinary cigarettes. If vape smoking occurs indoors, the space is saturated with nicotine. Surrounding people, as in the case of cigarettes, become hostages of the situation. Let it be that the concentration of the toxic substance is quite small here, such water vapor still manages to negatively affect everyone who breathes it. Naturally, all of the above does not apply to vapes without nicotine. Indeed, in the latter case, substances entering the airspace do not cause any harm to the health of others.
Vape - is it unhealthy compared to a regular cigarette?
Let's look at the list of substances found in traditional cigarettes:
- Aromatic hydrocarbons and amines.
- Pyrenes.
- Naphthols.
- Complex phenols.
- Carbon monoxide.
- Ammonium.
- Cyanogen.
- Isoprene.
- Acetone.
- Acetaldehyde.
It is easy to guess that the transition of the smoker to an electronic cigarette eliminates the effects on the body of the above chemical compounds. Therefore, to reduce the harm to health, it may be worth asking how much vape is worth. However, the safety of electronic devices is also not a proven fact.
Why should heavy smokers switch to vape?
The use of an electronic cigarette by a smoker with experience will result in a number of positive aspects for him:
- Gradually, the characteristic yellowness of the teeth disappears.
- The smell of tobacco smoke will disappear.
- Dyspnea will be eliminated with moderate physical exertion.
- The condition of the skin will improve significantly.
- The effect of bleeding gums will disappear.
- An adequate perception of odors will return, taste sensations will improve.
Given the above, experienced smokers should find out how much vape costs. The use of an electronic cigarette can not only bring the state of the body back to normal, but it is also likely to preserve the material means that are spent on buying regular cigarettes daily.
Who should not use vape?
The following people are not recommended to start smoking an electronic cigarette:
- Persons who have not reached the age of majority. Is vape harmful to teenagers? In fact, smoking an electronic cigarette is not dangerous for them. However, this addiction leads to the development of addiction at the psychological level. At a young age, people develop new habits especially quickly.
- It is especially important for pregnant women - expectant mothers to quit smoking well in advance when they are expecting a baby. Is a vape harmful to health during the gestation period? The negative point here is the difficulty with a complete rejection of addiction. Quite often, women who smoked an electronic cigarette during pregnancy, after giving birth, return to regular cigarettes.
- Non-smokers - inhaling vapors of aromatic liquids is the starting point on the path to tobacco consumption for those who have never even taken a cigarette in their mouths.
- Allergies - in the composition of vaping liquids, there may be flavorings that can cause acute reactions of the body. Therefore, people who suffer from all kinds of allergic manifestations are not recommended to smoke an electronic cigarette.
Does vape stop smoking?
To answer this question, it’s worth immediately clarifying whether it is a question of completely abandoning regular cigarettes or eliminating dependence on nicotine? Indeed, the transition to vape makes it possible to rid the body of the harmful effects of a wide range of harmful chemicals. At the same time, many electronic cigarette lovers prefer liquids that contain nicotine. Therefore, we are not talking about getting rid of addiction. In addition, there is a high probability that such smokers will return to the consumption of tobacco products in the future. In general, the effectiveness of the decision in terms of abandoning addiction remains an extremely controversial issue.
However, people who are really determined to quit smoking should try switching to vape for the sake of experiment. For these purposes, it is necessary to gradually reduce the strength of the liquids used and choose products with a lower concentration of nicotine. After a few months have passed, attempts to return to regular cigarettes usually begin to cause the smoker only disgust, because tobacco smoke seems to them extremely unpleasant in taste and even disgusting. The same goes for the flavor of traditional cigarettes.
Explosion hazard of electronic cigarettes
Not so long ago, American scientists from the University of Washington published data confirming the dangers of some electronic devices. So, in the period from 2015 to 2016, medical institutions recorded more than a dozen cases of injuries of varying severity due to the use of steam devices. Electronic cigarette explosions occurred as a result of overheating of lithium-ion batteries. Thus, the victims arose the need to treat complex burns. In some cases, even a skin transplant was required. Although such situations are rarely recorded today, researchers suspect that with the growth of vape popularity, the number of accidents will only increase.
Finally
It is too early to say that the use of electronic cigarettes is a panacea for nicotine addiction. However, there is certainly potential for such a solution. At the moment, vape is the only product that does not force the smoker to give up the habit and at the same time eliminates the harmful effects of carcinogens on the body. The level of toxicity of substances in liquids for electronic cigarettes is much lower. This is due to a decrease in the load on the lungs and organs of the cardiovascular system, which also looks like a positive point.