E-Cigarettes: Really Less Dangerous Than Smoking?

The Truth About Nicotine

Though the lady selling e-cigarettes was all too keen to convince me that nicotine itself was neither addictive nor harmful, the truth is less rosy. Though the other chemicals offered in modern cigarettes are specifically placed there to promote the addictive potential of these tobacco products, nicotine itself is most certainly addictive. It also interferes with fetal development and impacts the development of the adolescent brain.

What's more, because e-liquids have not been regulated (though the Food and Drug Administration's process of doing so started in August 2016 in the US), you may not know exactly how much nicotine is in any e-liquids you may be using. Acute nicotine poisoning, which can result from using e-cigarettes containing much more nicotine than you knew (sometimes sold "under the table" in convenience stores) or ingesting e-liquids straight, is certainly very dangerous and can even be fatal.

Does Vaping Lead To Cancer? What Are It's Other Health Risks?

E-liquids vary in contents depending on their manufacturer and the product itself. The FDA, studying what was in these liquids, however, did find that a significant portion of them contained diacetyl, an ingredient leading to a dangerous lung disease commonly referred to simply as "popcorn lung", an ingredient also used in anti-freeze, and formaldehyde. E-liquids can also contain nitrosamines, carcinogenic ingredients found in tobacco, and benzene.

It currently certainly appears that e-cigarettes offer a less deadly alternative to traditional cigarettes. That is good news for people who have labeled themselves dyed-in-the-wool nicotine addicts with no intention of weaning themselves off their nicotine addiction.

Do they actually help you quit smoking? With one study finding that nearly 78 percent of e-cigarette users also still smoke traditional cigarettes, that's a very good question, the answer to which is ambiguous at best — and in addition, you have to ask yourself whether you're really a non-smoker if you've instead taken up chain vaping.

READ Teen Use of E-Cigarettes Doubles In US in Just One Year

The most worrying is the increase in e-cigarette use among youngsters. E-cigarettes are now the most popular nicotine product among high school students in the United States, perhaps providing a "gateway drug" towards taking up smoking down the line, and perhaps encouraged both by the flavors offered and by the notion that e-cigarettes aren't that bad for you.

The Bottom Line

If you're going to either be an avid smoker or an avid vaper, e-cigarettes are, current data suggests, almost certainly the safer (Or should we say "less damaging? Yes, we should!) choice. If your choice is between quitting nicotine altogether and vaping, however, we know what the best choice is, and that's all the more true for never-smokers who are considering taking up vaping. E-cigarettes may be less dangerous than traditional tobacco products, but the lady who told me that they were "nothing harmful" was either woefully uninformed or cleverly deceiving potential consumers.