E-cigarettes have become immensely popular in the last few years. With this latest trend has come a barrage of misinformation and little understanding of what's actually in the product. Whether you are looking to switch from cigarettes or looking to try something new, there are two important things you should know first.
The E-cigarette market is mostly unregulated. Because of the relative freshness of the e-cigarette craze the FDA has not had the proper amount of time to study the effects of e cigarette smoke.
The FDA reported: "E-cigarettes have not been fully studied, so consumers currently don’t know:
- the potential risks of e-cigarettes when used as intended,
- how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals are being inhaled during use, or
- whether there are any benefits associated with using these products."
While there are a few preliminary studies, much of the information we need is still unavailable. The FDA would make e-cigarettes follow the same regulations that tobacco products do, but the large majority of them don't contain any sort of tobacco.
The FDA found that there is nicotine in most e-cigarettes, and "cartridges labeled 'no' still delivered some nicotine. The cartridges labeled 'high' delivered more nicotine than the approved product." Based on same report by the FDA, we know e-cigarettes likely contain cotinine, anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine, which are all alkaloid chemicals that act similar to nicotine.
It's also becoming more popular in grade schools. Smoking has always been an issue in middle and high school, but e-cigarettes may reverse the huge progress in underage smoking we've made in the United States. According to a report by Time Magazine, last year was the lowest teen smoking rate in two decades with a 15.7 percent decrease from the 36.4 percent of smokers reported in 1997. But, based on new evidence presented by CDC, “Two million teens, 13.4% of high school students, used e-cigarettes in 2014, up from 4.5% in 2013 and 1.5% in 2011. Among middle schoolers, e-cigarette use rose from 1.1% in 2013 to 3.9% in 2014, representing about 450,000 students.” While e-cigarette brands claim they are not marketing to children, I think that the relative cheapness, availability, and branding has contributed to this increase among grade schoolers.
On the other hand, e-cigarettes could be a great alternative to normal tobacco and provide us with a tool to further decrease lung cancer and heart disease in the U.S. However, with the product being mostly unregulated and grade schoolers using it at an increasing rate, it would be better to give this new fad some time before jumping on board.
