Over the years, more and more health issues have been associated directly with smoking tobacco, like traditional cigarettes, which has caused a dilemma for many smokers who struggled to quit or didn’t want to quit but didn’t want the long list of potential health problems. Due to the demand for a smoking alternative, vaporizing or ecigs have been created to help solve the problem. Vaporizers require flavored liquids or “eliquids” that contain nicotine and turn to steam or vapor that is then inhaled and this idea didn’t successfully take off until 2003 when vaporizers stormed the market. But health professionals have yet to weigh in with conviction on just how safe vaporizers or ecigs are but based on a few comparisons with traditional tobacco smoking it is pretty clear that they just may be a lot safer.
Vaporizing or the use of ecigs are noticeably different in terms of chemicals, smells and cost compared to traditional cigarettes. The vapor that is produced by vaporizers contains zero tar, a thick, brownish/yellowish toxic by product of smoking tobacco. Even though traditional cigarettes have filters to help prevent the harmful chemicals from entering the users body, some if not most still get through. Tar causes the cilia in the lungs to become paralyzed, and has been linked to emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer. Also the burning of tar in traditional cigarettes is one of the main reasons why the smell seems to “cling” to surfaces and stain teeth, fingers, or other objects in the vicinity of heavy smoking.
The list of chemicals found in cigarettes is over 4,000 items long and 43 of them are known carcinogens (cancer-causing). This large list is one thousand times bigger than the chemicals found in eliquids produced by trusted companies, and sold by trusted eliquid shops. The four common ingredients found in most bottles of eliquid are glycerin, propylene glycol, food grade flavoring, and liquid nicotine. Glycerin is a clear, odorless liquid produced from plant oils. Propylene glycol is a liquid alcohol used in the food industry as a solvent and is considered to be “generally safe” by the FDA. Food grade flavoring is self-explanatory and liquid nicotine that has been found to be very addictive (many eliquids are available without).