Case Study : Second Hand Smoke from E-cig Poses Lower

Health Risks than Traditional Smoke

Whether e-cigarettes pose health threats or not is a matter of

debate ever since its inception. On one hand, there are

proponents of e-cigarettes, claiming that it is absolutely risk-free

than traditional cigarettes; on the other hand, there are experts

negating the health benefits of e-cigarettes as proclaimed by the

manufacturers. Continuing with the debate, in a recent study

conducted by a health journal, the chemical components and

health risks of second hand smoke of both e-cigarettes and

traditional cigarettes were compared. Human samples were ether

given a traditional cigarette or an e-cigarette, and asked to puff

away in a specially designed closed chamber. The amount of

chemical substances in the smoke was then measured to analyze

how much a person would intake, second hand.

According to the report, the toxic substances found in the

traditional cigarette smoke outweighed the meager traces of

harmful chemical compounds found in the vapors produced by the

electronic cigarettes. More than twenty volatile chemical

substances were found in the cigarette smoke; however, on the

other hand, only traces of six of these organic elements were

detected in electronic cigarette vapor. It is important to

understand here that unlike traditional cigarette smoke,

electronic cigarettes generates a liquid vapor, which appears like

smoke, giving a feel of true cigarette smoking but without any

side effects or health risks related to passive smoking.

As reported in the survey, when electronic cigarette vapor is

exhaled, contains only a negligible amount of artificial flavoring

and nicotine. The main component that was detected in the vapor

of electronic cigarettes was propylene glycol, which is deemed

safe by FDA and is present in many foods that human beings

consume every day. This study proved that secondhand smoke

from electronic cigarettes is less harmful than smoke generated

from traditional cigarettes. While this may not have much impact

on the anti-smoking group, but it is indeed moving in the right

direction, emphasizing lesser health hazards of smoking

electronic cigarettes.

In the context of an anti - smoking group proposing complete

tobacco or nicotine abstinence, Dr. Brad Rodu, head of Tobacco

Harm Reduction effort at the University of Louisville’s James

Graham Brown Cancer Center, said in an interview that it is

nearly impossible for many smokers to attain total tobacco or

nicotine abstinence. Further he added that their Tobacco Harm

Reduction center primarily involves in finding substitution to

traditional cigarette smoking, by seasoning the hard-core

smokers with some smoke-free alternatives that pose lesser risks

to the health. In favor of his experience, he cited several

references where smokeless tobacco alternatives have reduced

the health risks of both active and passive smoking considerably.

With renowned doctors speaking in favor of smokeless electronic

cigarettes, followed by studies that are further reconfirming the

fact, it goes without saying that second hand vapor from e-cigs

pose lesser health risks than the smoke from traditional

cigarettes.

DO you Smoke? Switch to E-

cigarette Now !!