Electronic Cigarettes Or E-Cigarettes
Electronic Cigarettes Or E-Cigarettes
The liquid used in e-cigarettes may or may not contain nicotine. E-Cigarettes simulate the act of smoking, but you don’t burn tobacco when you use them. Instead, the e-cigarette is a battery-powered device that works by heating the liquid into an aerosol, which you then inhale into your lungs.
That aerosol is often called ‘vapor’, and inhaling it from an e-cigarette is known as ‘vaping’. When smoking an e-cigarette, the user inhales and exhales the vapor, which can look similar to cigarette smoke.
The liquid used in e-cigarettes comes in a range of flavors, such as fruit, chocolate, and confectionery flavors.
E-cigarettes are often shaped and colored to look like cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos. They can also come in other shapes and colors and can look like other everyday items such as pens or memory sticks.
They can also be known as e-cigars, e-pipes, electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), alternative nicotine delivery systems (ANDS), e-shishas, e-hookas, hookah-pens, vape-pipes, and e-cigs. They can be disposable, or reusable.
E-cigarettes have gained popularity in the United States and worldwide over the past few years, primarily among existing smokers.
What are the dangers of e-cigarettes?
E-cigarettes are likely to be less harmful to your health than regular cigarettes, but their full health impacts are not yet known.
Potential dangers of e-cigarettes include:
- ingestion (swallowing) of e-liquid – which can lead to poisoning and even death when swallowed by children
- faulty parts – there have been some reports of explosions
- lithium batteries – these can be flammable or explosive if used in low-quality devices.
The products you can buy in the United States are made up of many parts, which can come from all over the world. So it’s difficult to assess the safety and quality of every facet of the products.
What we do know is that products that involve delivering chemicals to the lung are usually only approved after an extensive safety and efficacy evaluation. Unfortunately, the incorrect labeling of liquids used in e-cigarettes has been known to happen in the USA.
The liquid used in e-cigarettes also often contains other chemicals (such as flavorings) which may be harmful when inhaled, even though they might be safe when added to food.
The particle matter (PM) that is emitted by e-cigarettes could be potentially dangerous to those who inhale it, just as passive smoking is harmful to those who share a contained space with regular smokers. Inhaling PM can lead to asthma attacks and heart disease.
Are e-cigarettes a good way to give up smoking?
Some people argue that e-cigarettes can be used to help people to stop smoking, but we don’t know how effective or safe they are.
The Therapeutic Goods (TGA) has not approved any e-cigarette products as a medicine to help people quit smoking. This is because the quality and safety of e-cigarettes have not yet been thoroughly tested, and it is not clear whether they are actually helpful for people trying to quit.
As e-cigarettes have not been approved by the TGA, it is illegal to market or promotes e-cigarettes as a product that can help people to quit smoking.
However, the TGA does endorse many other products proven to help people quit smoking, based on their safety and long-term effectiveness. These products include:
- nicotine patches
- nicotine gum, oral strips, and lozenges
- nicotine mouth spray and inhalators
- medications such as Champix or Zyban.
You can get some of these products at a reduced price with a prescription from your doctor.
What do the experts say?
Some doctors recommend restricting sales of non-nicotine e-cigarettes, extending smoke-free laws to include e-cigarettes, and banning e-cigarette advertising.
They also consider that e-cigarettes, with their fruit and confectionery flavors, are clearly marketed to young people. They are concerned about this situation because the short and long-term health risks of e-cigarettes are still unknown.
Electronic Cigarettes Or E-Cigarettes.