Electronic death: TOP 16 reasons to quit vaping

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Over the past few years, vaping has gained popularity among young people. It is an electronic steam generator originally from China that replaces cigarettes. Instead of tobacco in a vape, a liquid with alcohol, flavors and nicotine, instead of smoke, the vaper releases steam, which is especially popular with teenagers. According to the WHO, today every fifth teenager is a vaper. It is difficult to find out that a child smokes a vape, it does not leave a smell.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CONVENTIONAL CIGARETTE AND A VAPE?

In order to understand what is more harmful than a cigarette or a vape, you need to figure out how both work.

What is a regular cigarette? Tobacco wrapped in paper with a special filter. In the process of smoking, tobacco smoke, containing a huge amount of harmful substances, first enters the body, then on exhalation into the environment.

How does a vape work? Instead of tobacco, the vape has a special liquid, which also contains many harmful substances, along with a heating element. An electronic device, by heating, converts a liquid into vapor. Vapors from the vape do not have a pungent odor.

HARMFUL OF THE VAPE TO HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT

# 1. HARMFUL OF VAPE TO HEALTH PROVEN

Manufacturers of electronic devices assure that there is a harmless substance inside, almost pure water vapor. The World Health Organization has a completely opposite opinion on this matter. The WHO report "On electronic delivery systems for nicotine" states that "the ENDS aerosol (electronic delivery systems for nicotine) is not just 'water vapor', as is often claimed."

The experts found that the main components of the solution, in addition to nicotine, are propylene glycol, glycerin, fragrances, formaldehyde and other cancer-causing substances.

# 2. VAPES EXPLODE SOMETIMES

Several cases have already been recorded in the world when a vape exploded in a smoker's mouth. There were such incidents in Russia as well. The latter happened a few weeks ago, when a 17-year-old schoolboy was taken to the Morozovskaya children's hospital; instead of his mouth, he had a solid bloody mess. The ripped vape tore apart the boy's jaws, teeth, lips. Surgeons barely saved the life of a teenager. But now he is faced with plastic and the insertion of teeth knocked out by the explosion.

And this guy was still lucky: 57-year-old Florida resident, Vietnam veteran Tom Halloway had his tongue torn off as a result of inhaling an electronic cigarette.

No. 3. CAUSE ALLERGIES

The principle of operation of an electronic cigarette is like that of a boiler: the spiral heats up, the smoking composition emits steam. However, some components of the smoking mixture, especially propylene glycol, can irritate the upper respiratory tract. As a result, all this results in an allergic reaction.

Natural tobacco nicotine in vapes has also been replaced with chemical one, which is even more harmful. For example, nicotine sulfate, which was previously used as a pesticide to kill insects, and then completely banned due to their high toxicity. And people, it turns out, are dragged on by analogs of pesticides!

No. 4. HARMFUL TO THE BODY AT THE CELL LEVEL

All the flavors with which electronic gadgets are “stuffed” penetrate the human lungs. And they influence them, and not superficially, but at the deepest, cellular level. This was announced last year at an international conference of the US Lung Community.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina presented the results of their study, in the course of which they found that the longer vapor from vapes is retained in the lungs, the greater the harm becomes.

No. 5. VAPES LACK OF CONTROL

"The import, sale, advertising, promotion and consumption of these products are not regulated in any way, and poses a serious threat to the achievements of the implementation of anti-tobacco measures," - cites one of the arguments for banning electronic cigarettes by the Russian Ministry of Health.

Manufacturers, too, are not particularly controlled by anyone. And there are no uniform rules for them. What you stuffed - then smoke.

No. 6. DOSAGE OF NICOTINE AND SUPPLEMENTS UNKNOWN

Due to the lack of strict control, it is almost impossible to find out the dosage of certain substances. Even if the packaging says that this is a device with a low nicotine content, no one can really check it.

A person thinks that once he bought an electronic cigarette, now he smokes less - but in fact it may even be more than in a regular cigarette. What kind of refusal from nicotine then can we talk about?

No. 7. RISK OF BECOMING A "SQUARE SMOKER"

Electronic cigarettes are often used as a way to quit regular cigarettes. However, it is often just a fairy tale.

Firstly, vapes themselves cause nicotine addiction, although not in such volumes as tobacco products.

Secondly, people who cannot quit tobacco become smokers squared: they grind both regular and electronic cigarettes. Scientists from the University of California at San Francisco have calculated that vape lovers almost double the likelihood of having a heart attack, and people who use both electronic and regular cigarettes increase this risk by 5 times!

No. 8. THE THREAT OF PASSIVE SMOKING

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that people who are near active vapers are also exposed to particles of harmful smoking mixtures:

“We do not know if increased exposure to toxic substances and particles will increase the risk of illness and death among those around us, as is the case with exposure to tobacco smoke. However, epidemiological evidence from environmental studies points to adverse effects on the body.”

No. 9. SO YOU STILL DO NOT QUIT SMOKING

A 2014 study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that there is no measurable cessation of cigarettes as a result of the switch to electronic counterparts. Even a year after the switch to vaping, smokers are habitually drawn to regular tobacco cigarettes.

No. 10. YOU JUST EARN FOR YOU

Vape smokers simply earn money by killing their health. In 2014, people around the world spent $ 3 billion on vaping. Sales are projected to grow 17-fold by 2030. During their short history, electronic cigarettes have made a successful "career" - they have gathered a large flock of adherents and, according to experts, in the next 10-15 years will overtake ordinary cigarettes in sales.

At the same time, according to WHO estimates, if three years ago there were 466 brands in the world, today the number of those wishing to profit from your account has increased by about one and a half times. They get rich, and you obediently carry money to the cashier again and again.

No. 11. PRODUCES TOXIC SUBSTANCES

The basis of the liquid in vapes is propylene glycol and glycerin. Scientists from the Lawrence National Laboratory in Berkeley (USA) found that when they are heated, toxic substances are released - acrolein and formaldehyde. The first irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract, causing lacrimation and coughing. The second - has a negative effect on the nervous system.

No. 12. POLLUTE THE ENVIRONMENT

According to experts from the same laboratory of Lawrence in Berkeley, toxic substances during evaporation actually affect air pollution, increasing the level of harmful emissions.

No. 13. LIQUID SETS ON LUNGS

The reputable American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns: the higher the vaporization temperature of the vape, the more fine liquid settles on the lungs. And with it formaldehyde.

No. 14. CHILDREN SWALLOW PAIR WITH NICOTINE

Whatever vape smokers may claim, nicotine exhaled along with the vapor is just as harmful as from regular cigarettes. Not only that, according to Michael Siegel, professor of tobacco research at Boston University School of Public Health, children who constantly inhale vaping vapors are just as exposed to nicotine as if they were smoking regular cigarettes nearby. These children also have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

No. 15. ADOLESCENTS HAVE A HIGHER RISK OF ASTHMA

Many teenagers, believing that e-cigarettes are safer than regular cigarettes, smoke them endlessly. This increases the risk of developing lung diseases, including asthma. “In five years, the consumption of electronic cigarettes by American teens has grown 10 times. And over the past few years, the number of sick days vaping smokers have taken to school has skyrocketed due to bronchial and lung problems,”says Professor Stanton Glantz, director of the University of California's Tobacco Research Center.

No. 16. LETHAL DANGER OF VAPE

Scientists from the New York University School of Medicine have found that vapor from e-cigarettes can damage DNA, which can lead to the development of cancer. The results of scientific work are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Biologists have studied the effect of nicotine and its derivatives, contained in the vapor from an electronic cigarette, on mice. It turned out that volatile compounds damage genetic material in the cells of the lungs, heart and bladder. At the same time, the activity of DNA repair systems decreased, which was expressed in a decrease in the level of specific proteins.

Similar changes were observed in human tissue cultures, including lung and bladder cells, which were exposed to nicotine and nitrosamine ketone, which is a nicotine derivative and carcinogen. As a result, the rate of mutations and the likelihood of tumor formation increased.

Although e-cigarette vapor contains fewer carcinogens than tobacco smoke, the researchers believe that the risk of cancer in vapers is still higher than in non-smokers.