In an earlier blog we mentioned that e-cigarettes were touted as a safe alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes. Sure, they eliminated the need to burn tobacco, which meant a smoker wasn’t ingesting things like carbon monoxide and tar but is it really safer, or are you just trading one harmful habit for another?
So what exactly are you ingesting through e-cigs? The American Lung Association has provided a break down of the chemicals found in these products:
- Nicotine – a highly addictive substance that negatively affects adolescent brain development
- Propylene glycol – a common additive in food; also used to make things like antifreeze, paint solvent, and artificial smoke in fog machines
- Carcinogens- chemicals known to cause cancer, including acetaldehyde and formaldehyde
- Acrolein – a herbicide primarily used to kill weeds, can cause irreversible lung damage
- Diacetyl – a chemical linked to a lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans aka “popcorn lung“
- Diethylene glycol – a toxic chemical used in antifreeze that is linked to lung disease
- Heavy metals such as nickel, tin, lead
- Cadmium – a toxic metal found in traditional cigarettes that causes breathing problems and disease
- Benzene – a volatile organic compound (VOC) found in car exhaust
- Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
Looking at this list of ingredients, it’s clear that these substances are far from “safe”.
Other products gaining popularity among vapers are TCH and marijuana. Between 2017 and 2023 use among youth has increased across all age levels. Up 3.5% for 8th graders, 5% for 10th graders, and up a whopping 10.1% for 12th graders. These numbers are rising primarily due to two factors, its easy to get a hold of, and it is difficult to detect when vaped.
The days of believing that vaping is harmless are over. Smoking and vaping are both habits that come with their own risks and vaping takes it to a new level of concern by adding the ability to discretely smoke illegal substances.
Join us next week as we talk about the health impacts of vaping.
