Electronic Cigarette Web

Nitrosamine Levels in Various Nicotine Products

One of the complaints we see from people against electronic cigarettes are Tobacco-specific Nitrosamines, which are cancer-causing agents found in tobacco and tobacco derived products.

However, Nitrosamines are a non-issue with electronic cigarettes…here’s a comparison chart from a recent Boston University study comparing Nitrosamine levels in various nicotine products, including electronic cigarettes.

The interesting thing here is that while they have just slightly higher Nitrosamine levels than FDA-approved stop smoking aids, electronic cigarettes contain less than 00.18% of the total Nitrosamines found in Marlboro Ultra Lights.

This means you’d have to smoke more than 587 electronic cigarettes to get the same amount of Nitrosamines in a single Marlboro Ultra Light.

Abbreviations: NNN = 4-(methylnitrosamino)-I-(3-pyridyl)-I-butanone; NNK = N’-nitrosonornicotine; NAT = N’-nitrosoanatabine; NAB = N’-nitrosoanabasine; 0.00 means “Not detected”

Link to the original study: Electronic cigarettes as a harm reduction strategy for tobacco control: A step forward or a repeat of past mistakes?

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Boston University Study Suggests E-Cigs Can Help You Quit

The Boston University School of Public Health released a study about electronic cigarettes, concluding that “Electronic cigarettes show tremendous promise in the fight against tobacco-related morbidity and mortality.” The study was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (online this month and should be in the next print version).

Electronic Cigarettes more effective than the patch or gum

Even though electronic cigarettes aren’t designed to be used to quit smoking, the study found that 31 percent of respondents reported having quit smoking within 6 months of purchasing an electronic cigarette. This is about twice as effective as traditional nicotine replacement products like the patch or nicotine gum, which only have a 12-18% average 6-month abstinence rate.

In addition, the study found that almost 67% of respondents reported having reduced the number of cigarettes they smoked after using electronic cigarettes.

According Michael Siegel, on of the study’s authors and professor of community health sciences at Boston, “This study suggests that electronic cigarettes are helping thousands of ex-smokers remain off cigarettes.”

Siegel says that “while it is well-recognized that nicotine plays a role in smoking addiction, little attention has been given to the behavioral aspects of the addiction. These devices simulate the smoking experience, which appears to make them effective as a smoking cessation tool.”

States still fighting to ban e-cigs

A number of objective studies have suggested that electronic cigarettes are quite a bit better than tobacco cigarettes. Still, a number of states and municipalities have sought bans on the devices in an attempt to wipe anything even remotely associated with cigarettes off the face of the Earth. According to Siegel, “banning this product would invariably result in many ex-smokers returning to cigarette smoking,” and “would substantially harm the public’s health.”

A few more interesting quotes from the study:

On electronic cigarettes compared to tobacco cigarettes:

• “Theoretically, we would expect vaping to be less harmful than smoking as it delivers nicotine without the thousands of known and unknown toxicants in tobacco smoke.”
• “A product that mimics the act of smoking, in addition to delivering nicotine, can address both pharmacologic and behavioral components of cigarette addiction.”

On the safety of electronic cigarettes

• “As [about] 5300 of the estimated 10,000 – 100,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke have ever been identified, we already have more comprehensive knowledge of the chemical constituents of electronic cigarettes than tobacco ones.”
• “[Tobacco-specific nitrosamines] (TSNAs) have been detected in two [previous] studies at trace levels of 8.2 ng/g. This compares with a similar level of 8.0 ng in a nicotine patch, and it is orders of magnitude lower than TSNA levels in regular cigarettes…a 500-fold to 1400-fold reduction in concentration.”
• “The presence of [diethylene glycol] (DEG) in one of the 18 cartridges studied by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is worrisome, yet none of the other 15 studies found any DEG.”
• “Other than TSNAs and DEG, few, if any, chemicals at levels detected in electronic cigarettes raise serious health concerns.”
• “Although the existing research does not warrant a conclusion that electronic cigarettes are safe in absolute terms…a preponderance of the available evidence shows them to be much safer than tobacco cigarettes and comparable in toxicity to conventional nicotine replacement products.”

If you’re interested, you can check out the original study here [hsph.harvard.edu]

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What the FDA says about electronic cigarettes

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the recent FDA press release regarding electronic cigarettes. Most of the information on the Internet is simply wrong; most of it is written by people that heard about the press release from another website or a friend but never bothered to read it themselves, so it’s understandable that most of this information is inaccurate. I personally read the press release myself and can tell you exactly what the FDA thinks about electronic cigarettes according to this press release.

Basically, the FDA took a very small sample of brands, brands which they didn’t actually name, and tested a few cartridges from those brands. They found trace amounts of toxic chemicals and tobacco specific nitrosamines in these cartridges and that’s all. It’s my understanding that they actually only tested to brands and a very small sampling of cartridges from those brands. That’s really all the press release said, so it’s a bit misleading, and a number of prominent tobacco researchers and scientists have come out in opposition to the press release because it so easy to misinterpret. The press release almost makes it sound like the FDA did a comprehensive study and found that electronic cigarettes are dangerous, when in fact, they did no such thing.

In addition to the fact that the press release refers to results that can in no way be considered a scientific study, the FDA failed to mention that the chemicals found in the cartridges are also found in tobacco cigarettes, but in much higher concentrations. Tobacco cigarettes also contained thousand more dangerous chemicals that were not found in the cartridges. Additionally, the tobacco specific nitrosamines that were found are also present in FDA approved stop smoking devices that you can by your local pharmacy.

So what is the FDA saying with this press release? Well, if you consider the facts, it seems the FDA is saying that they found some chemicals that may or may not be damaging in electronic cigarettes, and those chemicals are also found in smoking cessation devices and, surprisingly, many foods we eat on a regular basis. Not only that, but there’s no evidence to suggest that tobacco specific nitrosamines found in the quantities they were in the cartridges tested by the FDA are even dangerous to humans at all and those concentrations.

To me, and apparently to a number of prominent tobacco researchers, this press release is almost like the FDA trying to rally opposition to pizza because it contains saturated fat. If you’re considering electronic cigarettes, the question you have to ask yourself is, do I think they’re more dangerous or less dangerous than tobacco cigarettes? For me, the answer to that question is dead simple, they can’t possibly be worse than tobacco cigarettes and that’s why I switched.

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Electronic cigarettes – A healthier alternative to smoking

Electronic cigarettes are incredible little devices that every smoker should know about. It’s incredibly exciting to think of the possibilities posed by electronic cigarettes and Hal maybe, someday, they could completely replace tobacco cigarettes and dramatically reduce incidents of cancer and other illnesses caused by smoking traditional cigarettes.

There haven’t been any direct studies related to safety of electronic cigarettes, which is one of the reasons the FDA is currently pressuring electronic cigarette manufacturers to fund such studies. In spite of the fact that there haven’t been any formal studies completed, many prominent tobacco researchers and scientists claim that electronic cigarettes are probably significantly safer than regular cigarettes.

It doesn’t take a scientist to understand that electronic cigarettes are probably quite a bit safer than real cigarettes. The major toxin found in real cigarettes is in fact not a toxin at all, instead it’s the byproducts of combustion that are so harmful to human beings. To be sure, many of the chemicals found in a tobacco cigarette or dangerous and/or deadly, but the real killer are the chemicals found in the smoke created by burning things, in the case of cigarettes, by burning tobacco.

When a person inhales these byproducts of combustion, to include dangerous chemicals like carbon monoxide and tar, these chemicals seeping to the bloodstream damage the lungs and have a negative effect on other vital bodily functions.

The incredible promise I see electronic cigarettes, and why I’m speaking about these as if they’re not already out, because they are, but I digress… the amazing thing about these devices is that they allow you to smoke a cigarette without actually inhaling any byproducts of combustion! They’re able to do this because they aren’t actually burning anything, in fact, electronic cigarettes simply vaporize a liquid nicotine solution similar to what happens when you boil water. Instead of inhaling smoke, you inhale water vapor mixed with the nicotine solution and flavoring.

This vaporization delivers the nicotine into your bloodstream just like a real cigarette would without all the other chemicals found in the smoke produced by a tobacco cigarette.

Unfortunately, the FDA is trying to ban the sale of these devices in the United States until complete studies are done. While the FDA is fighting these devices, over 400,000 people every year are dying in the United States as a direct result of tobacco usage, all the while, it’s plainly clear that these devices must be significantly safer than real cigarettes. Which begs the question, why is the FDA demanding that extensive studies be conducted right away in order to sell these devices when tens of thousands of people will die during that time.

If you’re considering e-cigs, you should check out some electronic cigarette reviews to see which brand may be the best for you.

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Smoking statistics

Smoking statistics are always a bit alarming and it’s amazing how widespread tobacco smoking is in the United States and elsewhere in the world. It’s also amazing the number of deaths that occur each year just in the United States as a result of smoking tobacco cigarettes.

In the United States alone there are over 45 million tobacco smokers, and 1.1 billion worldwide. Analysts expect that number to increase to over 1.5 billion by the year 2025.

Every year, worldwide, 5 trillion cigarettes are purchase by smokers.

Another astonishing fact, according to analysts, is that cigarette butts make up nearly 40% of all litter in the entire world. Those cigarette butts create 135,000,000 pounds of extra trash discarded each year.

Although tobacco smoking is extremely prevalent in the United States, we actually only rank fifth worldwide in total number of tobacco smokers. China, India, Indonesia and Russia have more smokers than we do here in the United States. However, we are ahead of other developed countries such as Japan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Germany and Turkey.

Health risks associated with tobacco smoking

In the United States alone nearly 45 people die every hour as a result of tobacco smoking; that’s a total of 400,000 people a year. Roughly 20% of all deaths in the United States can be associated with tobacco usage, which is the single largest cause of preventable death; ahead of AIDS, drugs, homicides, fires and auto accidents combined.

Tobacco cigarettes are rife with dangerous chemical compounds; to date, over 4000 chemicals have been identified in tobacco smoke. Out of those 4000 chemicals, 60 cause cancer. This chemical cocktail is highly addictive; even though 45% of smokers try to quit each year, less than 3% will actually succeed.

Fires are another health risk of tobacco smoking and it’s estimated that cigarettes are responsible for over $6 billion in damages, and over 1000 deaths due to cigarette-caused fires. California is a major state known for its wildfires, and it may surprise you to learn that country-wide, 25% of wildfires are caused by cigarettes.

The cost of cigarettes to the economy

You know all those cigarette breaks we smokers take? Well, analysts estimate that those cigarette breaks account for almost $100 billion in lost productivity to US companies annually as well as huge increases in healthcare costs.

If you’ve ever tried to stop smoking before you’re probably aware of all the other stop smoking devices out there such as nicotine gum, the patch and even prescription medication. Smoking cessation is a $3 billion industry as of 2008, more than double what it was in 2002. Even so, the stop smoking devices are estimated to have less than a 5% success rate.

Tobacco’s tax has been skyrocketing over the past few years and is costing consumers more and more for a pack of cigarettes. In the past 10 years alone the price of a pack of cigarettes has gone up over 200%, and today almost half of the cost of a pack of cigarettes is tax.

At an average of six dollars per pack, a pack a day smoker will spend over $110,000 on cigarettes over 50 years. Just think of what you could do with all that money if you put it away in an IRA or save it in even a low interest-bearing account.

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Are electronic cigarettes safe?

Some people have never smoked in their entire lives but think electronic cigarettes are pretty cool. One question people like that may have is, are they safe? Specifically, are they safe and non-addicting if you smoke the zero nicotine cartridges?

That’s a really good question; smoking would appeal to a lot of people if it wasn’t so bad for you to take a 10 minute break from your normal day and smoke a cigarette with your friends. It’s a social activity, it’s a relaxing activity, and all in all, smoking is very pleasurable, so wouldn’t it be nice if you could smoke without encountering the dangers of actually smoking a cigarette?

Well, that’s a tricky question to answer. Electronic cigarettes haven’t been around long enough and haven’t been tested thoroughly enough for me to be able to recommend them to non-smokers. Even the zero nicotine cartridges I can’t recommend. The reason being that there really are no standards set for the manufacture of those cartridges. So, while the manufacturer may claim zero nicotine, there may still be some nicotine for all you know. In fact, the FDA recently tested a couple different brands of electronic cigarettes and found trace amounts of nicotine in the zero nicotine cartridges.

Because of this, electronic cigarettes really shouldn’t be smoked by non-smokers. They are really ideal for current smokers to improve their health and stop smoking tobacco cigarettes. Many prominent doctors have come out to say that electronic cigarettes are no doubt much, much more safe than real cigarettes. However, nobody has made the claim that they are just as safe as not smoking anything at all.

Electronic cigarette cartridges contain nicotine as well is a chemical known as propylene glycol, and some flavorings depending on the cartridge you buy. While propylene glycol is used in different types of medications, it’s affect on the lungs hasn’t been clearly defined. We know that nicotine by itself, in moderate amounts, is not necessarily harmful to humans, rather it’s the byproducts of combustion and all the other chemicals found in tobacco cigarettes that are damaging and can cause severe health effects. Electronic cigarettes eliminate the vast majority of these chemicals, however, you are still inhaling something, and when given the choice of inhaling something or not inhaling something, not inhaling something is more than likely the safest alternative.

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Do eCigs pose a fire hazard?

Electronic cigarettes utilize a battery in order to send a small electrical current to a device, called an atomizer, which vaporizes a nicotine solution to be inhaled by the user. In order to vaporize the liquid, the atomizer must convert the electrical current into heat, and that can pose a fire risk if not handled with care. Still, it’s a significantly lower fire risk than traditional tobacco-burning cigarettes.

To avoid the risk of fire, the eCig user should be cognizant of when the electronic cigarette battery may become activated unintentionally. Unintentional activation, if left unchecked, can overheat the atomizer and pose a fire risk on certain models of electronic cigarettes without automatic battery shutoff.

There are two battery types used in eCigs and each can become activated unintentionally in different circumstances.

Manual eCig Batteries

The first battery type, and the oldest, is the manual push-button type. These batteries utilize a small push-button on the side of the battery in order to activate the device and send current to the atomizer. Current is sent continuously until the user releases the battery button, or in some models, an automatic shutoff is activated after a certain time.

Manual push-button batteries help to avoid unintentional activation in windy weather or other situations of short-term pressure changes, such as concerts or clubs with loud music. However, the push-button can be activated by other objects pressing against it unintentionally, such as when stored in a purse or pocket or dropped under the seat of a car.

Automatic eCig Batteries

Automatic eCig batteries are the younger sibling to manual batteries. Although they are much more popular than manual batteries these days and many of the newer electronic cigarette models utilize an automatic battery, there are situations in which an automatic battery can be activated unintentionally.

Automatic batteries utilize a pressure switch that senses short-term changes in air pressure over a certain level to activate and send current to the atomizer.  This allows the devices to produce vapor when the user takes a drag without the need to press a button.

However, users of automatic batteries should be aware of situations in which the batteries could become unintentionally activated. Since they use a pressure switch, they can be unintentionally activated by short-term pressure changes other than when the user takes a drag. For example, they can often be activated by the turbulent wind inside of a convertible or in a car with the windows down. Automatic batteries have also been known to activate unintentionally in places with loud music such as concerts or clubs. If the music is loud enough, it will cause sufficient pressure changes to activate the automatic pressure switch and cause current to flow to the atomizer.

Because of the potential for unintentional activation, both types of batteries should be handled with care. It’s a good idea to always be aware of situations in which your battery could become activated unintentionally and to prevent such situations from turning into a fire hazard. Warning signs of unintentional activation to be aware of are vapor coming from a pocket or purse, or the device becoming noticeably hot to the touch. The heat produced by the current flowing to the atomizer can pose a fire hazard if left unchecked.

Many batteries are now being shipped with automatic shutoff features that interrupt current flow to the atomizer after a set number of seconds in order to minimize risk of fire or damage from excessive heat. When purchasing a particular brand of electronic cigarette, the consumer should be aware of the existence of such safety measure or the lack thereof.

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Are Electronic Cigarettes a Safe Cigarette Smoking Alternative?

There’s been a lot of debate as to whether there can be a safe smoking alternative. Tobacco cigarettes contain literally thousands of toxic chemicals and a number of known carcinogens, so realistically, practically anything must be better than smoking real cigarettes, right? Well, not exactly, read on to find out why inhaling any sort of smoke is bad for you.

One of the most common misunderstandings about cigarettes is that it’s the chemicals the tobacco companies add to the cigarettes, filter, and paper wrapping that are the most harmful. Unfortunately, this causes some people to take up smoking cigars or “all-natural” cigarettes as a safer alternative to real cigarettes.

What people don’t realize is that it’s the inhalation of by-products of combustion that is so dangerous and harmful, not necessarily the chemicals in the cigarette itself. In other words, anytime you inhale smoke from something burning, you are doing serious damage to your lungs, and cigarettes are no exception to this.

So, why can’t people just switch to smoking cigars or all-natural cigarettes and be safer? Because both of those things burn tobacco as a means to get the nicotine into your lungs, and like I mentioned earlier, it’s those by-products of burning something that is actually what does you so much harm, so cigars and all-natural cigarettes are not much better than your traditional Marlboro Lights or Parliaments.

Are there any safe smoking alternatives?

Based on what we’ve covered so far, it seems that if we can smoke something that does not actual burn anything, we could dramatically reduce the health risks. Enter electronic cigarettes. Also known as E-Cigs, electronic cigarettes create an odorless water vapor that carries the nicotine, along with flavoring into your lungs when you take a drag. Unlike traditional cigarettes, there is no combustion happening; in other words, nothing is being burned to produce the “smoke.” This is why the smoke produced by electronic cigarettes is actually referred to as “vapor” because it really is just water vapor mixed with nicotine and flavorings.

Are electronic cigarettes really safe?

Electronic cigarettes certainly haven’t gone through rigorous testing to determine their safety, however, just knowing that they do not contain any by-products of combustion, the most harmful part of real cigarette smoke, is enough to assume they’re significantly safer than traditional smokes. In fact, Dr. Brad Rodu, Endowed Chair of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University of Louisville states that “[electronic cigarettes] are probably 99.9% safer than [real] cigarettes.”

In addition to Dr. Rodu, numerous other tobacco researchers and prominent physicians have come out to say that electronic cigarettes may be significantly safer than real cigarettes.

Although there hasn’t been any thorough studies done regarding the safety of electronic cigarettes, one has to ask, they have to be better than smoking real cigarettes, right? I’ll leave the answer to that question up to you.

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Electronic Cigarette Health Issues

Various companies have been marketing electronic cigarettes in different ways since they first came to market several years ago. Some of them make claims that electronic cigarettes are healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes and others have claimed that electronic cigarettes are the ultimate stop smoking devices.

Recently, the US FDA released a statement regarding a test they did on the contents of electronic cigarette cartridges from two different vendors. The FDA found traces of diethylene glycol as well as tobacco-related nitrosamines (TSNA’s) in some of the cartridges tested. The FDA was also concerned about varying levels of nicotine delivered with each hit from the devices studied. In July, the FDA issued a press release discouraging the use of electronic cigarettes as a result of this limited study.

A number of people, including prominent doctors and tobacco researchers, have spoken out against the FDA’s recommendation, claiming the FDA is misleading the public by making recommendations that are not supported by such a limited study. Critics also claim that the FDA is completely ignoring the fact that electronic cigarettes are clearly more healthy than regular cigarettes.

Critics also argue that the trace amounts of chemicals found in the tested brands of electronic cigarettes were not compared to other, FDA-approved smoking cessation devices. Specifically, similar amounts of nitrosamines are found in FDA-approved smoking cessation devices such as nicotine gum and patches.

A study completed in October of 2008 by Health New Zealand concluded that, while trace amounts of TSNA’s are present in electronic cigarettes, as well as various other chemicals noted in the FDA study, those chemicals are only present below harmful levels and overall, Health New Zealand concluded electronic cigarettes were a “safe alternative to smoking.”

Additionally, the US National Institutes of Health published a report recently that found that participants in an electronic cigarette study did not develop dependence on the device as was the case with participants smoking real cigarettes.

Many critics claim that the FDA’s overall dismissal of electronic cigarettes without any sort of complete study to back up their findings suggests the FDA has ulterior motives regarding the products.

Electronic cigarettes have not been around long enough to see what long-term effects they have on users, although the general consensus among scientific and medical professionals with knowledge of the products is that they’re indeed safer than traditional smokes and many suggest they may be very effective stop-smoking devices. Nonetheless, few complete studies have been done on the devices and so the exact extent to which they are safer than real cigarettes is not totally clear. However, according to Dr. Brad Rodu, Endowed Chair of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University of Louisville, electronic cigarettes “are probably 99.9% safer than [tobacco] cigarettes.”

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Are electronic cigarettes safe?

I get a lot of questions about electronic cigarettes and whether or not they are safe, especially considering the recent memo released by the FDA stating that they may not be totally safe. I think the real question is whether or not they are safer than real cigarettes, not whether they are safer by themselves.

Of course inhaling anything is probably not can be very safe for you, but electronic cigarettes are not designed to be used by non-smokers, only smokers should switch to electronic cigarettes and, in that light, there’s no question that they are safer than real cigarettes.

We’ve all heard about how many dangerous chemicals are inside real cigarettes, so think about it, electronic cigarettes contain nicotine, propylene glycol, and maybe a couple other ingredients, and real cigarettes contain literally thousands of dangerous, poisonous, and cancer-causing chemicals… I think it’s pretty obvious which one is safer, which is the main reason I switched to electronic cigarettes myself.

In doing research on electronic cigarettes, one interesting fact I discovered is that one of the most dangerous aspects of smoking real cigarettes is the “inhalation of byproducts of combustion.” I wasn’t aware of this, I had always assumed that the chemicals that cigarette companies put in the cigarettes is the bad part, and while both chemical certainly are dangerous, poisonous, and have been known to cause cancer, inhaling byproducts of combustion is actually the most dangerous part of smoking.

So, with that in mind, and the fact that electronic cigarettes contain little or none of the cancer-causing chemicals found in regular cigarettes, I was even more interested in trying out e-cigs because the method by which they operate has nothing to do with burning anything… so no combustion involved at all. Instead, a liquid mixture is heated to the point of evaporation, which is then inhaled, delivering the nicotine to the bloodstream.

I’m no doctor, but it sounds to me that if “inhalation of byproducts of combustion” is the most dangerous aspect of smoking real cigarettes, and electronic cigarettes have no byproducts of combustion and, in fact, don’t even utilize combustion at all, then electronic cigarettes must be dramatically safer than real cigarettes.

In my research I discovered this was definitely true and confirmed by a number of prominent doctors and tobacco researchers. In fact, when the FDA released a bit of information suggesting electronic cigarettes were not safe, many of these prominent doctors and tobacco researchers spoke out against the statement because, as one researcher put it, “there’s no doubt that electronic cigarettes are 99.9% safer than real cigarettes.”

The bottom line for somebody looking at electronic cigarettes as an alternative to real cigarettes is whether or not they are safer than real cigarettes. There seems to be no question that e-cigs are in fact safer than real cigarettes, so while I may not yet be some kind of marathon running, vegetarian as far as health and fitness goes, switching to electronic cigs is definitely a step in the right direction.

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