Are Electronic Cigarettes Safe?
Electronic cigarettes are being marketed as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco. But just how safe are e-cigarettes? Are there any health risks? Let's examine electric smoking and compare it to "real" smoking so you can make an intelligent decision if this may be a wise smoking alternative for you.
The most harmful aspect of smoking cigarettes is the 4,000 toxic chemicals that are inhaled when you burn tobacco. It's the actual smoke that is causing lung cancer and respiratory disease, not the nicotine. With electronic smoking none of these 4,000 toxic chemicals are produced because there is no smoke... nothing is actually burning. No smoke means no tar, carbon monoxide, etc.
But what about the nicotine? E-cigarettes still deliver nicotine. How dangerous is that? More independent studies on the effects of nicotine by itself need to be done. Right now the health risks are still inconclusive. Nevertheless, it's obvious that a method of delivering nicotine that doesn't involve real smoke is going to be much safer than burning tobacco.
Are electronic cigarettes totally safe? When you compare it to "real" smoking there really is no comparison. One thing we know for sure is that tobacco smoking is incredibly dangerous, expensive and inconvenient. E-cigarettes give smokers an alternative that appears to be much safer and will probably save countless lives. Given a choice between the two? I know what I will choose.
