E-cigs not without controversy

They emit vapor but health safety questions regarding electronic cigarettes are still swirling like smoke.
Electronic cigarettes, also known as vapors or e-cigs for short, have made an impact on an industry dominated by tobacco cigarettes in a short amount of time.
According to Bloomberg Industries, sales from e-cigs could potentially reach $1.5 billion by the end of this year. This could, some say, put a strain on already faltering cigarette companies, which could ultimately lead them to go out of business. Or perhaps evolve to a newer, safer solution to tobacco cigarettes.
E-cigs have been around much longer than people tend to think. They were first patented by Herbert Gilbert in 1963 as a smokeless non-tobacco cigarette that did not contain nicotine. His device did not lead to commercial success which lead to the e-cig falling from existence.
In 2003 a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik patented his first nicotine based electronic cigarette. Lik began manufacturing and selling his device in the Chinese market, then it moved to the U.S. in 2007.
The e-cig has been growing in popularity ever since. It has been labeled as a tobacco cigarette cessation tool and the safer alternative to cigarettes. The e-cig is not entirely made to help with the cessation of tobacco cigarettes, although it is by far a safer alternative to smoking.
According to lung.org, there are more than 7,000 chemicals in cigarettes, 69 of which are cancer-causing agents. E-cigs contain anywhere between 3 to 5 chemicals, depending if the user wants flavoring added.
The e-cig juice or e-liquid contains all FDA-approved ingredients that are made up of propylene glycol, which is a solvent used in many products people use every day, vegetable glycerin (vegetable oil), water, flavoring, and nicotine. The nicotine contents vary depending on the user’s stipulation. The nicotine ranges from 0 to 36 mg.
Nicotine, of course, is the habit-forming component of cigarettes, and the cause of concern by those who fear e-cigs will lead to addiction, which will lead to cigarette use.
The e-cig works without the need of a lighter. The user begins by pressing a button on the device to cause the atomizer to turn on. The user takes a puff and the liquid passes the atomizer that heats the liquid causing it to turn into a vapor. The user then inhales the vapor of the e-cig and experiences what one would with a tobacco cigarette, minus most of the health effects and odor. A user can opt for flavor additives to make it taste and smell like whatever they chose.
A health issue concerning tobacco cigarettes is second-hand smoke. With e-cigs the smoke coming from the device is water vapor. The only substance in the e-liquid that can cause harm to anyone is the nicotine, which is only dangerous in its concentrated liquid form. However, smoking the e-cig nicotine, as well as tobacco cigarette nicotine, causes vascular restriction and should not be used for woman who are pregnant, experts say.
The Food and Drug Administration is trying to get a handle on new smoking products, including electronic cigarettes, with newly proposed regulations that include banning sales to minors, which Louisiana did this summer, and requiring manufacturers to register all of their products and ingredients with the FDA.
“I like these proposals; the public needs clarity on smoking alternatives because we have 42.1 million adult tobacco smokers [CDC, 2012] who may be able to benefit from them,” says Anthony Sarvucci, CEO of American Heritage International, (www.americanheritageonline.com), a company that develops e-cigarettes expressly for adult tobacco smokers who want to quit but have not succeeded.
“The bottom line is that we know how terrible traditional cigarettes are for people, but there has been a vacuum of information about e-cigs, which leads to a great deal of misinformation, some fear-mongering, and even simply making stuff up.”
The e-cig user must take proper precautions when storing the liquid away, making sure it is not accessible to small children. Any ingestion of the e-liquid will cause vomiting, increased pulse rate, and loss of muscle control. Accidental consumption of the liquid is not uncommon.
According to the CDC, in the month of February of this year alone, there were 215 cases of children accidentally consuming the e-liquid. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, one teaspoon of the e-liquid containing 1.8% nicotine is lethal to a 200-pound person.
“I’ve had cigarettes, and when I exercise my breathing is heavily altered. I have been vaping for 4 months and I breathe fine.” Trevor Thibodeaux, an electronic cigarette user, said in regards to his e-cig use.
“The only concern, for me, is having to buy the safest e-liquid, which is why I buy American made e-liquids.” Thibodeaux stated.
Every brand comes with an on off brand that doesn’t get it just like the original. Some companies sell devices that do not function well, or aren’t tested properly. E-cig companies do not have to abide by FDA regulation, meaning how they make and distribute their products is not regulated to insure the products utmost safety. Such regulations, should they occur, could cause a rise in e-cig product prices, but it will also lower the rate of which bad, unsafe products are sold. One way they could regulate this booming business is with the placement of childproof caps on all e-liquid containers, and testing the e-liquid for contaminants.
The price for a user of an e-cig is quite bulky at first due to the cost of the individual device, but over time it is cheaper than purchasing and smoking tobacco cigarettes. Let’s say a pack of tobacco cigarettes is $5 dollars and the smoker smokes one pack a day. The cost would be $150 a month, that’s $1,800 a year, and if the smoker smokes for 30 years, that’s $54,000 dollars. Now if that person would have made the transition to an e-cig the cost would be dramatically lower. The average cost to refill an e-cig for a month is around $50 at the most, in a year that’s $600, over 30 years that’s $18,000. A total difference of $36,000 dollars saved. Not only is the switch a healthier choice, it’s cheaper too.
E-cigs allow one to experience the pleasure of smoking without the apparent dangerous side effects of tobacco cigarettes, advocates say. They also allow the user to travel into crowded areas and not have to be worried about the concern of others, since there is no second-hand smoke. E-cigs are an apparently safer alternative to tobacco cigarettes, not as safe as not smoking, but safer nonetheless.