Are E-cigarettes really a safe alternative to smoking tobacco?

[Kronos]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31146418

Each week it seems scientists find something harmful somewhere. Too much coffee makes your ears fall off. Aspirin is good Aspirin is bad. GM crops will feed the starving GM crops will unleash genetically modified triffids on the planet.

I do not know how long these E cigarettes have been about but surely there should be some definitive science reports about by now?

They may well contain harmful traces of "free radical" toxins but does not the very air we breath contain vastly more harmful chemicals particularly if you stay in a major city. Is not Oxford St in London one of the most polluted street in Britain consistently failing the World health Organisations guidelines on air quality?

 

[Richdog]

No-one said they were "safe". But they are "safer" through having 100x less (according to the latest report) volume of bad stuff in them.

 

[Freakbro]

It's all about relativity.

I'm sure e-cigs are not 100% 'safe' - there will always be some harm in inhaling a hot vapour with some chemicals in it.

But compared to what they are replacing, tobacco cigarettes, then yes they are immeasurably safer.

 

[Cosimo]

Compared to cancer sticks then yes but they are most probably harmful in their own way.

 

[Kol]

What is a shame that I see on the way to work are young teens vaping. Yes, it might be safer than them smoking cigarettes but, in my opinion, some of the vaping kit looks pretty cool and I'm worried that it might just produce a generation of nicotine addicts that might not have been had it not looked quite so smart.

 

[Hades]

What is a shame that I see on the way to work are young teens vaping. Yes, it might be safer than them smoking cigarettes but, in my opinion, some of the vaping kit looks pretty cool and I'm worried that it might just produce a generation of nicotine addicts that might not have been had it not looked quite so smart.

I was surprised recently to find that my 18 year old nephew has taken up vaping and he has never smoked. His circle of friends vape as well. It does indeed seem to be trendy to the young.

 

[Steedie]

It's just come to light in the news that vape smoke has 40x more formaldehyde in them than cigarettes so "safer", but by no means safe

 

[DaleTheWhale]

What is a shame that I see on the way to work are young teens vaping. Yes, it might be safer than them smoking cigarettes but, in my opinion, some of the vaping kit looks pretty cool and I'm worried that it might just produce a generation of nicotine addicts that might not have been had it not looked quite so smart.

Hipsters essentially... They picked up vaping as it was cool and different, but you can get nicotine free juices.

 

[slinxy]

I'm a former smoker, now a vaper... I knew before I started that it wasn't 100% safe, nothing is 100% safe including the air that you breathe. I think most vapers are actually former smokers and do know that there is a risks.

a lot of the vaping companies are already taken steps to improve the safety of their kits and jucies and the so called experiments that are being ran at the moment do not echo 'real life' scenarios therefore are highlighting issues that are not really there and are pointless.

I've read one where they tested a ce4 (tank) running at 5 volts and said that it was giving off unsafe chemicals. Well people who tend to have ce4 tanks; don't tend to have mods (batteries) that can produce 5 volts consistently if the mod is working correctly! Thoose who do should know better than to run that tank at 5 volts. Also the ce4 is not design to at that voltage and that temperture, your not vaping the juice but melting the plastics and vaping that.

Only time will tell if what the dangers of vaping are, cigs was considered as a 'medical' item when they first came out. In the states, governments are looking for ways to tax the industry rather than educate, both the people vaping and those who don't.

 

[contracteur]

As a vaper;

Yes there are still some unknown risks with vaping (formaldehyde aside as it was shown that they were excessively burning the wicking material which doesn't happen on a regular basis in real life).

However compared to cigarettes/cigars/other tobacco-based products, its safer by orders of magnitude, in my opinion.

 

[aardvark]

It's just come to light in the news that vape smoke has 40x more formaldehyde in them than cigarettes so "safer", but by no means safe

not true - i've read the original paper and its fundamentally flawed. The way the experiment was done meant they were not actually vapourising the liquid but burning it, so sure, if you burn a mixture of pg/vg of course you will product formaldehyde but thats not how it works in reality.

 

[snapdragon]

It's just come to light in the news that vape smoke has 40x more formaldehyde in them than cigarettes so "safer", but by no means safe

wut?

Not to be rude but that's a hell of a statement to make, care to link to where you got that "information"

 

[Twirlywoos]

Are ecigs 100% safe? We will never know,but they are safer than cigarettes And a much more effective nrt

 

[Steedie]

wut?

Not to be rude but that's a hell of a statement to make, care to link to where you got that "information"

I heard it on BBC news and when I googled formaldehyde to check the spelling p) it was pretty much every link in Google if you care to check for yourself

As pointed out though, looks like it was a flawed study that got these findings.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

As pointed out though, looks like it was a flawed study that got these findings.

By design so the government can tax you for using them.

Publish headline figures on how dangerous vaping is, get it banned everywhere but an outdoor space then licence it so the government can either tax the manufacturers to the hilt - meaning you all pay treble at the shop, or they tax you via VAT or other means for using such an unsafe product which will lead to you being a burden on the NHS (which will likely be their stated justification for the taxation but in reality successive governments have mismanaged the economy so badly it makes for hungry work. So they need to tax vaping to shore up their subsidised staff canteen).

It's all about them manipulating the situation so they can tax you. Vaping is becoming very popular and sales of cigarettes is in decline. We can't have the government taking a loss in tax revenue now can we?

EDIT - regarding the OP - nobody knows how safe they really are as extensive testing is yet to be done. I think what we can say, though, is they are likely more safe than cigarettes. Harm free? Possibly not, but time will tell.

 

[Richdog]

It's all about them manipulating the situation so they can tax you. Vaping is becoming very popular and sales of cigarettes is in decline. We can't have the government taking a loss in tax revenue now can we?

Yup, and it's amazing how after all this time people are still willing to believe everything that the government wants them to believe.

Loss of cigarette revenue is a huge blow for government revenue, and it has to be replaced with something else.

 

[Glanza]

The one thing that annoys me about people with these e-cigs are the ones who seem to have to have it blow so much 'vapour' out that it clouds a room up for a few seconds, when kindly asked if they'd refrain from doing that indoors. 'What's your problem mate it's only water vapour it won't harm you' even so can you please have some consideration for other people in the shop.

 

[OhEsEcks]

My diamond mist unit broke while I was taking a particularly large pull the other day. I got a mouthful of acrid black plastic smoke instead of delicious Havana juice vapour. So there's that danger aspect to it.

 

[Captain Fizz]

I was surprised recently to find that my 18 year old nephew has taken up vaping and he has never smoked. His circle of friends vape as well. It does indeed seem to be trendy to the young.

Would they have started smoking instead if vaping didn't exist?

I have no doubt some more will be vaping who wouldn't smoke normally, but I would think the number of kids not smoking at all will have gone down due to vaping.
Vaping is a hell of a lot better than smoking!

 

[TommyV]

They'll never be perfectly 'clean' to use, but compared to cigarettes they're a damn slight 'healthier'.

Without ecigs I wouldn't have stopped smoking and eventually become completely nicotine free. They are a blessing.