Over the past ten years, the media have not stopped contradicting the arguments regarding the harm and benefits of e-cigarettes. Each time, citing excerpts from opposing statements of one or the other authorities in the field of healthcare, and more often without any arguments at all, popular articles add ambiguity, avoiding giving a direct answer to the question: what is more harmful, vape or cigarettes? This problem is not like an empty polemic that interests people who are aware of the dangers of smoking and who want to get rid of it. We will try to figure out how harmful vaping is and whether it can become an alternative to regular cigarettes.
US Research
By confining ourselves to studying harmful substances in vapors of electronic cigarettes and their effect on the human body, the question of which is more harmful, vape or cigarettes, scientific research leaves open. Moreover, this is a new product that entered the consumer market only in 2005. The effects of its long-term use are unknown, and no one wants to take responsibility for their forecast of responsibility.
At Johns Hopkins University (USA), for the first time, not only the contents of the vapors of electronic cigarettes were studied, but also their effect on the lungs of animals and the body as a whole (experimental material - rats, mice). True, the direction of the inquiry did not seek to reveal the topic: what is more harmful than vape or cigarettes. But some comparisons are nevertheless given.
University professor Shiam Biswal, who led the research published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE, said: “Electronic cigarettes are not neutral in terms of effects on the lungs. Scientists found that the vapors contained free radical toxins, similar to those found with cigarette smoke and air pollution, although they amounted to about 1% of the level of regular cigarettes. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that can damage DNA and cell membranes. This came as a surprise to researchers, since e-cigarette vapors do not contain combustion products or tar emitted from tobacco burning. Of course, this is 100 times lower than cigarette smoke, but there is still a large amount of free radicals that can potentially damage cells. In addition to nicotine, a known carcinogen formaldehyde is present in vaping fluid. There is also another aromatic chemical called diacetyl associated with lung disease. ”
Based on these data, it can be concluded that vape is unlikely to be more harmful than cigarettes. Why, then, the American media are actively promoting against electronic substitutes, the danger of which is a hundred times less than tobacco smoke? Unfortunately, such anti-advertising affects the attitude to vaping of the world community.
UK scientists findings
In addition to the United States, studies of a similar nature were conducted in European and Asian countries and Australia. In laboratories of e-cigarettes, all laboratories have discovered certain toxic and carcinogenic substances. And although their content is 99% lower than in cigarette smoke, none of the officials sought to say: which is more harmful, an ordinary cigarette or a vape.
After a series of scientific studies funded by the Public Health of England, in July 2016, the Royal College of Physicians published a report from the working group on the relative dangers of conventional and electronic cigarettes. All evidence suggests that 95% of vape is less harmful than cigarettes. Although it does not deprive smokers of their health exposure to certain risks.
Verdict of independent researchers
On September 14 of the same 2016, after research on 26 points, the international non-profit group Cochrane published its review. This authoritative organization, known for its objectivity, independently reviews the effectiveness of technology and the results of scientific research in the field of healthcare. According to her report:
- nicotine e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking;
- they have no serious side effects in the short and medium term (up to 2 years);
- in some cases, switching to vaping leads to changes in blood and breathing, similar to those observed in people who completely give up smoking.
Medical point of view
After the question was posed in a slightly different perspective: e-cigarettes are not to what extent safe, but more harmful, cigarettes or vape, the doctors' opinion, with some hesitation, leaned toward the latter. Mostly they are doctors in the UK.
The chief specialist of the National Health Service of England, Professor Sally Davis, expressed the view that electronic cigarettes should only go on the market as licensed drugs to help smokers quit smoking. This would ensure confidence in the quality and safety of the product. Especially in relation to the aromas used, the effect and composition of which are least studied.
Vaping
The correct device name is a vape device. This is a kind of inhaler that works on the principle of an evaporator. The heating element converts the special liquid into steam, which is inhaled. At the exit, such fumes resemble clouds of tobacco smoke, but without a specific smell. Vaping does not leave, like smoking, a sticky brown coating on objects and glasses. No smoldering or burning of the components occurs; the inhaled vapor has a low temperature. And at the exit, if you put a hand under it, you can feel that it is cool. After a minute in the room from him there is no trace and smell.
To understand what is more harmful, vape or cigarettes, you should understand the composition of the liquid for vaporization. Its components are not very numerous. In addition to nicotine, each of them, including some flavorings, is used in cosmetics, medicine, food and other industries.
- The basis of the mixture is glycerin. For vapes, it is specially produced in the highest degree of purification, much better than its pharmacy counterpart. Glycerin is not harmful, it is produced by the human body as an important element of water-fat metabolism.
- Propylene glycol creates a feeling of strength in the throat and bronchi, similar to what occurs with a cigarette puff. Promotes the best mixing of components, disclosure of taste. The ingredient is completely optional. In the food industry, it is known as E1520.
- Mixtures, depending on their strength, contain various proportions of nicotine. And here there is a certain alarming nuance: if in ordinary cigarettes during their smoldering part of the nicotine burns and disappears, then from the vape liquid it enters the respiratory organs with the whole vapor. This should be considered when choosing mixtures or making them yourself.
- Now for vapes, there are more than 50 different flavors, of which at least 20 convey the smells of the best tobacco varieties and combinations. This is the component of electronic cigarettes that has been little studied and causes the most concern. Each fragrance consists of many chemical elements. And the composition of different manufacturers may differ, which complicates their research and control.
- Distilled water is added for greater fluidity of the mixture. As well as propylene glycol, an optional component.
The danger of tobacco smoke
Before discussing whether vaping is harmful and why cigarettes are more dangerous, something about tobacco should be recalled. All combustion products, including those of plant origin, contain carcinogenic and toxic substances. Tobacco leaf is no exception and emits 69 such compounds when smoldering. Also, tobacco smoke, due to its natural composition, characteristics of growing, processing and improving consumer qualities, contains 196 toxic compounds.
Some substances from a long list of the most dangerous components:
- Benzapiren - a carcinogenic, very toxic compound, belongs to the first class of danger. Fatal even its insignificant concentration.
- Carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide is a toxic, hazard class 2.3 substance with a fatal, inhaled for an hour, air concentration of 0.1%.
- Nitrogen dioxide - a poisonous gas that excites diseases of the respiratory system, and its increased saturation can cause pulmonary edema.
- Benzene is the strongest carcinogen with high biological and mutagenic activity. It leads to chronic diseases of various organs, blood, spinal cord.
- Formaldehyde is a toxic compound of the second hazard class. Its strong negative effect, primarily affects the nervous activity, sensory organs, reproductive system.
- Methanol is a highly toxic alcohol and optic nerve damaging system. The permissible limit of its air concentration is 5 mg per 1 m 3 . Each cigarette emits 0.08-0.18 mg of methanol.
- Hydrocyanic acid is a toxic compound in a rather large amount (1.3 mg) emitted by each smoldering cigarette. It affects the cardiovascular and respiratory organs, provokes changes in the composition of the blood.
Other dangers of tobacco
Radioactive nuclides of radium, polonium, lead, and potassium are isolated in cigarette smoke. Substances accumulate tobacco leaves from soil fertilized with phosphate top dressing. The latter are made of apatites and phosphorites, which in turn contain these radioactive elements.
As part of the tobacco leaf, 14 narcotic substances and several others were found, along with nicotine, which are highly addictive. One of them, acetaldehyde, must be converted by the body into acetic acid, which is harmless to humans. Such an oxidation process requires the action of a certain enzyme, the conversion of which is absent in the body of some people, which leads to the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The concentration of acetaldehyde in the smoke of each cigarette is quite high: 0.4-1.4 mg.
Hookah
Disputes about which is more harmful: cigarettes, hookah or vape, have not subsided for a long time. If we compare cigarette smoke and hookah, then, of course, the latter will be more sparing. Its temperature is several times lower, and the capacity of various substances is inferior to hundreds of components. In addition, the smoke is not as dry as cigarette, but contains a significant proportion of water.
However, the whole bunch of the above harmful components of tobacco smoke remains, however, in a smaller proportion. A significant part of them settles on the walls of the hookah shaft and pipe, and about 38% is deposited in the water of the vessel. But smoking a hookah is a long-term process, during which a hundred and a half times more smoke is drawn in than from a cigarette. Moreover, the hookah puff is done differently, much deeper than the cigarette, filling not only the upper, but also the lower respiratory tract. With this method of breathing, various elements to a greater extent remain in the bronchi and lungs.
In addition, one should not forget about smoldering coal, with its products of combustion in addition to tobacco. The smoke from the average portion of the hookah mixture contains 15 times more carbon monoxide than from one cigarette. A good vape device configured for hookah traction is no less pleasant and much safer than a hookah. Only the device is smaller and designed for individual rather than mass use. And do not flatter yourself that hookah mixtures are more natural. In addition to tobacco, consumer packaging contains processed sugar syrup, glycerin, artificial flavoring and flavoring components, and preservatives.
Total
There is no doubt: which is more harmful, an ordinary cigarette or a vape. Especially when you consider that within two months after switching to vaping, a cough of a chronic smoker and shortness of breath passes, a burst of energy is felt, and overall health and sleep improve. It is worth considering leaving cigarettes forever. Moreover, a good vape device, equal in value to a two-month supply of cigarettes, gives more pleasure from the process than smoking. By learning how to independently maintain the device and mix liquids for the evaporator, you can save dozens of times on your habit. And believe me, this is not at all complicated, thanks to the most detailed instructions posted on the network.