Are E-Cigarettes a Safe Alternative To Tobacco?

E-Cigarettes can look like regular tobacco cigarettes.

Many people in the United States smoke, but those numbers are dropping. Quite a few people are researching whether e-cigarettes are a safe alternative to tobacco smoke. There’s no doubt that craving the nicotine-filled tobacco rolls is hard to overcome, but is there an alternative?

So what are e-cigarettes? They are electronic cigarettes that vaporize nicotine instead of actual smoke. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, too. Some are shaped like cigarettes, some like cigars, and some like pipes. Electronic cigarettes can also be disguised as pens, pencils, or other every day items. They all are built using a rechargeable battery, a battery operated heating element, a replaceable cartridge that contains nicotine and other chemicals, and an atomizer that converts the chemicals into an inhalable vapor.

Should you worry about e-cigarettes? There are a few concerns about them, even though they haven’t become widely popular yet. First, the dose of nicotine delivered from each inhale can vary. An FDA analysis recorded nicotine doses between 26.8 and 43.2 micrograms per puff. The FDA also found that there was nicotine in the “nicotine-free” products made by Blu and other companies. Electronic cigarettes deliver some toxic chemicals, such as diethylene glycol, some nitrosamines, and at least four other toxic chemicals. It’s also important to remember that e-cigarettes from any brand have not been approved from the FDA yet, which means scientific testing on these products is limited.

My personal opinion on these is a negative one. Basically, cigarette companies are exchanging fire and tobacco for batteries and “refillable cartridges”. It can still lead to health problems and it still has tons of toxic chemicals inside. Nothing is an alternative to smoking, except quitting. My father used to smoke and I would always worry which day it would be that he drops down. I was always afraid he’d develop some kind of cancer inside his lungs; just from a habit he developed in high school. Smoking is nasty and there is no alternative. Simple as that.