How Dangerous Are E-Cigarettes?
January 7th, 2014 // 2:23 pm @ jmpickett
As of today, the electronic cigarette market is a bit of the Wild West. At this time, the makers of these products are able to make therapeutic claims because there has been no FDA approval of any of these products yet.
Some experts claim that tobacco companies are taking advantage of the unregulated environment because it needs to find new customers who are addicted to nicotine. E-cigarettes are being promoted particularly to young people as a safe alternative to smoking the real thing.
According to the CDC, e-cigarette promotion is getting to young people with a high degree of success. In a year, the use of e-cigarettes has doubled among middle school and high school students. Right now about 1 in 10 high school students have tried the product. At this time, about 2 million high school and middle school students are using e-cigarettes.
Some medical experts claim that nicotine is highly addictive, no matter if it is delivered by a regular cigerette or an electronic one. The harm that can come from exposure to the secondhand emissions of electronic cigarettes is not known, these experts say. Two studies have determined that benzene, formaldehyde and nitrosamines come from these emissions.
None of these products have been approved by FDA as a safe/effective product to help people stop smoking. But many companies are making claims that these cigarettes will help people to quit.
FDA lab tests in 2009 also found there were detectable amounts of cancer causing chemicals, such as an ingredient in anti freeze – in two of the top lines of e cigarettes.
Many medical experts claim that there is no safe type of tobacco, and consumers do not have any way to know what chemicals are in e-cigarettes. We also do not know what the long and short term health consequences could be.
In the coming years, there is a good chance that there is going to be regulation of e-cigarettes by FDA.
