Smokers have been bombarded for years, about the health risks of smoking tobacco; so it’s a viable question to ask just how safe is the electronic cigarette, if you’re considering using them as an alternative.
The electronic cigarette uses a small cartridge or tank to store “liquid nicotine” which is sometimes referred to as e liquid or e juice. The solution is made up of liquid nicotine and a couple of other harmless liquids. When the e liquid is heated up by the element in the electronic cigarette, it vaporises. An electronic cigarette cartridge normally contains E liquid with nicotine strength of around 0% – 36%, this doesn’t pose an immediate health hazard if it were to be accidently swallowed. Bearing this information in mind you would have to conclude that it is “pretty harmless”
So how safe is an electronic cigarette with regards to the nicotine they supply to the user. The amount of nicotine delivered to the user depends on the strength of e liquid purchased from their supplier. Electronic cigarettes normally use e liquid with nicotine strengths varying from 0mg/g to 36mg/g, with the higher strength being comparable to a high strength tobacco cigarette.
Nicotine is known to have its own side effects, but smoking an electronic cigarette would only expose you to the similar side effects found with smoking a traditional cigarette, but without all of the other toxic and carcinogenic substances which are associated with burning tobacco cigarettes, and not the nicotine itself.
Only a small amount of research has been completed on the electronic cigarette, and some research has shown that there are some low levels of none desirable tobacco problems, that are derived from the extraction of the nicotine from the tobacco plant. These have been found though to be hundreds of times less concentrated than in normal cigarettes, and quite similar to the amounts found in devices and products produced to help smokers quit, such as gums and sprays. So you could conclude in a nut shell that there are no real issues that users of electronic cigarettes should worry about.
As in the case of any fairly new product, more research into the long term effects of using an electronic cigarette would be welcomed with open arms, along with the introduction of strict guidelines into their production and distribution. Users should look at purchasing from well known suppliers and tested brands that carry the appropriate certificates. To sum up, it looks like the using an electronic cigarette is a fairly safe alternative to smoking tobacco.
