As the popularity of e-cigarettes increases, more and more people are questioning the health risks associated with smoking. As a student whose school currently allows students to vape on campus, I find that it is imperative that people are educated on the actual risks. Arguments have gone back and forth. Unfortunately, much of the research can be deceiving at a glance. In this article, I'm going to go through some of the main issues found in e-cigarettes.

Does vaping create formaldehyde?

The New England Journal of Medicine found that significant amounts of formaldehyde hemiacetal can be found in aerosol (vapor which comes out of an e-cig); however, this is misleading, seeing as how the research was found on an e-cig that was set to 5 volts, an insanely high voltage for a typical e-cig. The average is somewhere between 3.2 and 3.8 volts. Additionally, their research showed that in lower voltages, there were no traces of formaldehyde detected. Now, before I continue, let me give a brief explanation on e-cigs and the importance of volts. With a modded vape, one is able to set the voltage of their e-cig, thus allowing someone to vary the intensity of the hit they take. Most people will never go above 4.5 volts, let alone 5 volts, because it simply ruins the hit; it's very hot and the taste usually disappears, and it causes severe coughing. In other words, virtually no one is at risk. If you want to read more, take a look at the links below:

• http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmc1413069
• http://www.vapertrain.com/page/utvvb
• http://www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php/2013-04-07-09-50-07/2015/191-form-nejm

How might vaping affect my lungs?

On the website http://stillblowingsmoke.org/#health, there is a plethora of claims which argues that e-cigs will negatively affect your lungs. Here are a few: "Vaping causes as much short-term inflammation in your lungs as regular cigarettes. Nicotine-free vapor may cause even more. The irritation caused by breathing particles may cause an asthma attack.” These claims, however, are either not true or are taken out of context.

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that, "This small retrospective study indicates that regular use of e-cigs to substitute smoking is associated with objective and subjective improvements in asthma outcomes. Considering that e-cig use is reportedly less harmful than conventional smoking and can lead to reduced cigarette consumption with subsequent improvements in asthma outcomes, this study shows that e-cigs can be a valid option for asthmatic patients who cannot quit smoking by other methods."

To be fair, there is research from plosone.org which indicates that there can be some inflammatory results caused by e-cigs with certain types of e-liquids in them: "A limited number of studies have assessed the effect of commercially available e-liquids on cell toxicity and viability and attribute most of the toxicity being due to flavor additives." The research is vary extensive, which makes it difficult to really grasp, but what I found was that there were so many variables that it is tough to say if all e-liquids can be considered "unhealthy" for your lungs.

Feel free to look at the journal and see for yourself. Overall, the journal did claim that more research needs to be done on e-liquids since it is unclear at this point which ones are safe. The ingredients in e-liquids are water, propylene glycol (PG) or vegetable glycerin (VG), nicotine and flavoring. Most of what is known of the ingredients is known to be harmless when consumed or inhaled, but again there is more research to be done and nothing is for certain. There are risks, but they just aren't clear yet.

What about nicotine?

Many of the health risks associated with e-cigs can be tied with the addition of nicotine. Many who argue against e-cigs claim that vaping causes headaches and a rise in blood pressure. This is true. But that is also true for cigarettes, which contain over 7,000 chemicals. All those symptoms can are related to nicotine, not vaping in general. The bottom line is that nicotine is not healthy, but at least e-cigs allow one to control the amount of nicotine they consume per hit, allowing someone to slowly get off of nicotine if they choose. Eventually, someone can work their way to zero nicotine while still getting to smoke.

Is second hand vaping a thing?

Not really. First of all, the aerosol dissipates very quickly, in about 10 seconds. For one to even get a good breath of aerosol in their lungs, the person vaping would have to blow it in their face. A study found by treatobacco.net found that, "Exposed healthy volunteers to ‘second hand’ e-cigarette vapor for one hour and found small increases in serum cotinine but no significant changes in lung function." This, of course, shows the short term effects. No one really knows what the long term effects could be. But if a single person blows one or two clouds in a room, there's a good chance that the people in the room have nothing to worry about.

Why is our government against vaping?

I recommend going to http://notblowingsmoke.org/ because there is a ton of information explaining why Big Tobacco and our gov't want to control vaping. Most of the reasons, of course, have nothing to do with health risks and have more to do with money. I would also encourage a look at this brief youtube video which will go into more detail:

In Conclusion

At first, I thought e-cigarettes were a much bigger risk than my research has shown, but I wouldn't have know that if I hadn't looked. Through this research, it is clear that e-cigs should continue to be used as a healthier alternative to tobacco cigarettes, and I think e-cigs should be allowed in public places, as long as the person vaping is respectful about where they blow their aerosol. Many of the negative arguments seem to fall flat, but there is still more research that needs to be done in order for us to fully understand any health risks. What I don't like is when people are manipulated into thinking one way or another without looking at all of the facts.

In this article I did my best to give those facts to the reader. My work isn't perfect, though. There are so many arguments which I couldn't cover. So, I encourage whoever is reading to look and find the facts for themselves. And if you have any questions, contact me. I have so much more to say, but again I simply couldn't cover it all. The future of vaping is currently up in the air (pun intended), but this may not be the case for long if people choose to find the truth and learn about the real effects of e-cigarettes. I personally don't smoke or vape. I don't think it's for me. However, I do believe that the truth is what will allow people to come to their own conclusions about vaping.