Vapes are not yet banned in public places, so both vapers and people around them are exposed to dangerous and toxic substances contained in aerosols: heavy metals, diacetyl, acrolein and even formaldehyde.
Doctors have linked this death to vaping soaring. They also noted that the number of people turning to medical institutions with an incomprehensible disease is growing. Everyone has cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, and in some cases vomiting and diarrhea, rapidly developing acute or subacute respiratory failure.
No infectious onset of lung diseases was found in patients, but smoking of vapes and electronic cigarettes unites everyone. Despite the fact that officials in the interview say that at the moment there is no clear understanding of the reasons for this situation, there is reason to believe that the reasons for this condition of patients are associated with vaping, including the use of vapors containing, in addition to nicotine, cannabioids.
By the way, vapes are already banned in New York and in India.
Real danger?
Various toxic and carcinogenic substances have been identified in smoking fluids: heavy metals, diacetyl, acrolein and even formaldehyde. Many of these substances are used to give smokers special taste and aroma. Scientists from the American University of Berkeley, having measured the concentration of toxic substances emitted by vapers into the environment, made a disappointing conclusion: the indicators are far from safe. Of particular interest was the fact that with a hundred puffs per day of vaping, the level of formaldehyde consumed by a smoker would be even greater than when smoking ten cigarettes per day. In addition, studies have shown that smoking both regular cigarettes and electronic cigarettes suppresses the smoker's immune system, contributing to inflammation.
There is evidence that second-hand smoke of electronic cigarettes is also dangerous, but research in this direction is still ongoing.
But electronic cigarettes were invented specifically as an alternative to regular cigarettes, as manufacturers tried to convince us. It is known that when smoking regular cigarettes, a huge amount of carcinogenic substances is released, which should be more dangerous than nicotine or not? Maybe the danger of vaping is exaggerated?
It is assumed that electronic cigarettes allow a person to gradually give up smoking, and also take control of his addiction: at the same time receive a dose of nicotine and at the same time satisfy the psychological need. In addition, electronic cigarettes have a rather pleasant smell, unlike ordinary ones, which also makes them more attractive. Yes, manufacturers impose them on us like that. If only smokers did not quit smoking and non-smoking teenagers “pulled themselves up”.
But behind this “attractiveness” there are many flavorings, including diacetyl, which often does not pass any toxicological tests (since there is no legislative regulation of its composition), and it is, in principle, not intended for inhalation, and therefore very dangerous for health.
In addition, due to the peculiarities of the vaporization process, nicotine enters the body not in the form of smoke, but in the form of aerosol, is instantly absorbed, which is why at the same dosage of the substance in electronic and regular cigarettes more nicotine enters the body of the “electronic” smoker. Nicotine in electronic cigarettes is synthetic, extremely toxic and very addictive.
What does the World Health Organization (WHO) say about this? In 2015, WHO noted that it was necessary to maintain the ability to smoke electronic cigarettes in order to reduce smoking. However, already in January 2017, a report by the WHO and the National Cancer Institute stated that there is practically no comparative benefit from electronic cigarettes, and their use in public places where the smoking of regular cigarettes is forbidden exposes everyone to toxicity. Moreover, WHO soon equated electronic cigarettes with conventional ones.
So what can you do right now?
The best thing you can do for your respiratory and cardiovascular systems, as well as for health in general, is to quit smoking or never start. Tobacco addiction, which many people earn as a teenager, leads to the development of a large number of diseases, the undisputed leader among which is lung cancer. The Association of Oncologists of Russia claims that it is lung cancer that takes the first place in incidence among all malignant tumors in men.
In terms of mortality, lung cancer is a leader both in Russia and around the world, both among women and among men. And cardiovascular disease is the main cause of premature death.
Named the main dangers of vaping and all electronic cigarettes
Vaping is gaining in popularity and beating the audience of those who distribute regular cigarettes. The harm of the latter has been proven for a long time, but the situation with vaping was much more complicated. 95 percent safer or still dangerous, Lenta.ru understood.
Smoking kills. According to the WHO, almost half of smokers die from cardiovascular and oncological diseases, the development of which provokes this particular addiction. To understand the scope: 30 percent of all cancer deaths in the US are caused by tobacco addiction.
Electronic cigarettes, which appeared in the early 2000s as a safe alternative to conventional cigarettes, by 2016 not only found their audience, but were ready to supplant their older brother. According to experts, in the next 10-15 years in sales, they will overtake ordinary cigarettes.
“Better is the daughter of a beauty blogger than the son of a vaper.”
Despite the optimistic start, the safety of vapes doubted quite quickly. And in May 2016, the United States completely banned the sale of electronic cigarettes to people under the age of 18. In addition, manufacturers were obliged to register their products and liquids (including their components), simultaneously checking and proving their safety. In New Zealand, nicotine-containing vaping fluids are completely prohibited.
All this happens because the effect of electronic cigarettes on human health is not fully understood. It is not worth completely trusting the “experts” who claim that “soaring is 95 percent safer than smoking”. Liquid for electronic cigarettes really do not contain carcinogens and resins, which mainly provoke the development of cancer. Nevertheless, vapes may well be harmful to the body for other reasons and in the longer term: scientists have not yet managed to establish it. In addition, many people combine vaping and smoking regular cigarettes, which complicates research.
Lenta.ru has already talked about how a group of scientists substantiated the harm of vaping. In particular, they recalled that the thermal decomposition of propylene glycol and glycerol contained in the liquid for refueling cigarettes leads to the release of toxic substances - acrolein and formaldehyde. Acrolein irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract, causes lacrimation, and has mutagenic properties. Formaldehyde, in addition to the above, also has an effect on the central nervous system.
Researchers studied three types of liquids in two different atomizers (vaporizing devices). One of the vaporizers was a component of a cheap electronic cigarette with one heating coil, and the other had two spirals. Scientists used gas-liquid chromatography to determine the chemical composition of the vapors released during puffs lasting five seconds with an interval between them of 30 seconds.
It turned out that at the first puff and ten minutes after turning on the cigarette, the concentrations of by-products changed. Their number in a pair gradually increased several times, and the growth rate depended on the voltage of the battery and the released connection. For example, at 3.8 volts, 0.46 micrograms of acrolein were produced in the first five puffs, but after the device was heated up, this figure increased to 8.7 micrograms. In double helix devices, the amount of acrolein released was significantly reduced.
Battery voltage and electronic cigarette life also increased the amount of toxic substances. In addition, the researchers found that the pair contained 31 harmful chemical compounds, including probable carcinogens, propylene oxide and glycidol. However, this study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, cannot be called large-scale.
Other experts believe that the real danger is not electronic cigarettes themselves, but components of liquids for refueling them, including flavors. Many of them are quite safe for eating, but the processes that occur with them during heating and evaporation are not fully understood. And the study of each of the constituent elements will take a lot of time.
Recently, the international non-profit organization Cochrane Collaboration published a report on the dangers of electronic cigarettes, written on the basis of all the scientific studies available in the arsenal. Previously, the experts of this organization have repeatedly released materials on the dangers of regular smoking.
The researchers cited three important facts: the use of liquids containing nicotine helps “traditional” smokers get rid of addiction, in the short term (2-3 years) vapes do not cause significant harm to the body. Most importantly, some (but not all) vapers experience the same changes in blood and breathing as those who quit smoking.
Despite this, the results of the original studies vary. So, an article published in the journal PLOS ONE, states that vaping helps quit smoking, and a review of the authoritative magazine Lancet Respiratory Medicine contains opposite information. In many ways, such contradictions call into question not only the conclusions of scientists, but also their methods, in particular a randomized controlled trial.
The safety of electronic cigarettes in the short term can definitely be said. Nevertheless, there are circumstances that cause some concern: for example, it has recently been proven that vaping has the same effect on blood vessels and the heart as cigarette smoking. But in order to accurately interpret all the available data, you will have to wait for the results of long-term studies.
