Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Smokeless Cigarettes - Are They Safe?

Electronic cigarettes (or smokeless cigarettes) are being marketed as a better alternative to smoking tobacco. But just how risk-free are e-cigarettes? Are there any wellness risks? Let's examine electric smoking and compare it to "real" smoking so you are able to make an intelligent decision if this might be a wise smoking option for you.

The most harmful aspect of 'normal' cigarettes is the 4,000 toxic chemicals that are inhaled when you burn tobacco. It's the actual smoke that's causing lung cancer and respiratory disease, not the nicotine. With electronic smoking none of these 4,000 toxic chemicals are produced mainly because there is no smoke... nothing is actually burning. No smoke means no tar, carbon monoxide, etc or only minute amounts.

But what about the nicotine? These e-cigarettes still deliver nicotine. How hazardous is that? Additional independent studies on the effects of nicotine by itself need performed. The wellness risks are still inconclusive. Nevertheless, it's obvious that a method of delivering nicotine that doesn't involve actual smoke is going to be much safer than burning tobacco.

The FDA recently reported that traces of carcinogens were found in a sample of electronic cigarette nicotine liquid. Nevertheless, these same carcinogens are also found in nicotine delivery alternatives like the patch and gum (which are both approved by the FDA). Also keep in mind that many each day foods like peanut butter contain trace levels of carcinogens.

This is not to say that we must not be concerned about it. Just keep it in perspective. It's essential to remember that the dose of a specific carcinogen is an critical factor in it is toxicity. If carcinogens are present in e-cigarette vapor, it doesn't not appear to be in high doses. Appropriate now there is no evidence that these carcinogens are even translated into the actual electronic cigarette vapor that's inhaled.

Are electronic cigarettes totally secure? Until additional studies are performed it's most likely a good idea to err on the side of caution and assume that they are not 100% safe. But when you compare it to "real" smoking there actually is no comparison.

One thing we know for sure is that tobacco smoking isn't very safe. It's costly, inconvenient and somewhat antisocial. E-cigarettes give smokers a choice that appears to be significantly safer and will almost certainly save countless lives.

Given a choice between the two? I think it's a no brainer... but you won't know until you try. So give it a go and find a cheaper, less polluting alternative, right here. Many are switching over now, so why not you?