Then I will write about it in more detail. First, just in points, but I emphasize that I also vape e-cigarettes for 9 years, independently of that, as I work with science, I like to be precise:
- Nicotine is carcinogenic: No, it is not carcinogenic, this statement is truly a misconception.
- The exhaled vapor contains nicotine: Yes, it does.
- E-cigarettes are as harmful as traditional cigarettes: They do not contain the carcinogenic substances produced during combustion, so they cannot be equally harmful, but during heating, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and chromium, nickel, and other heavy metals depending on the source, can be produced in the liquid.
- E-cigarettes help with quitting: This has been proven to be untrue. It has a harm reduction effect, but those who switched to it did not quit in a significantly higher proportion than those who smoked traditional cigarettes; I will look for a study for this.
- The vapor from the liquid is water vapor: It is indeed not water vapor, it is worse, it is an aerosol.
- Menthol flavor is more harmful: This is indeed a half-truth.
- Liquid and “popcorn lung”: Diacetyl was the problem here; if it’s not in it, you won’t get it.
- Our lungs can become spongy: I don’t know what they meant by this, but the risk of COPD, emphysema, and lung cancer is increased just as with traditional cigarettes.
- E-cigarettes (except for disposable nicotine vapes) do not contain nicotine, how could they, until we pour it in.
- Nicotine liquid is more harmful than nicotine-free: There is no difference.
- Propylene glycol is life-threatening: It is kidney-damaging, but you need to ingest a very large amount, which the average user does not really reach, but it will have its effect by accumulating in the body over years, decades.
- The liquid in e-cigarettes causes fatal lung damage: Yes, just like traditional cigarettes. I know the author meant carcinogenic substances, but something doesn’t have to be carcinogenic to cause long-term lung damage. What is fatal? Well, what they can’t treat.
- E-cigarettes are a gateway drug to smoking: It has been proven that among those who started smoking with e-cigarettes or vapes, they are typically more likely to become addicted to other tobacco products as well.
- Toxic substances are released from the flavorings and other additives due to heat: True.
- Liquid contains carcinogenic substances: If purchased from a reliable source, no, however, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and other aldehydes are produced under heat, which are carcinogenic.
- Liquid and chromium, nickel, lead: Certainly not in all of them, but they can be contaminated with them, again, the source is the question, where we get it from. Moreover, toxic metals are also produced during the wear and tear of the atomizer and the erosion of other metal components.
It is a very broad topic, I am happy with e-cigarettes as an option, but it is a misconception to reassure ourselves that it is harmless to have it in our mouths 12 hours a day.