Over the past decade, smoking has become a bad habit of the third part of the adult population of the planet. Most of them give an account of its negative effects on the body. Not having the strength to quit this "occupation", smokers are trying to find at least some alternative.
And so, it is here that electronic cigarettes come to help, which, according to many, are a safer replacement for standard cigarettes. In order to determine whether they are really safe, it is necessary to study in greater detail the principle of their work and the effect on the human body.
How electronic cigarettes work
All variants of electronic cigarettes consist of seven parts:
- The cartridge is part of the fixture to which the smoker touches his lips to puff smoke;
- Cartridge (cartomizer) - plays the role of a kind of filter. But, unlike ordinary cigarettes, its properties are slightly different;
- Atomizer - located immediately after the cartridge. It heats the cartridge with the liquid in it, thereby ensuring its evaporation;
- Air-sensor - converts air pressure into electric current;
- Tobacco smoldering indicator;
- Battery;
- Microprocessor - serves to maintain the indicator and sensor.
Despite this design, the principle of operation of electronic cigarettes is elementary. It is based on the evaporation of a special fluid that is in the cartridge. In this regard, they are often called evaporators or vaporizers. The composition of the liquid includes nicotine and various flavors. The flavors for cigarettes are so diverse that every smoker can pick them up to his own taste.
In the process of smoking, the liquid is heated and the person exhales it in the form of steam. The effect is similar to smoking cigarette cigarettes. The only difference in the absence of tobacco smoke, which may include various harmful substances.
Are electronic cigarettes harmful to the health of our bodies?
You can talk about electronic cigarettes for hours, but it’s almost impossible to give a 100% answer to the question about their benefits or harms. Many experts argue that it all depends on the fluid that fills the cartridge.
In the absence of nicotine, it does not bear any harm, a completely different picture is obtained when the cartridge is full. It should be noted that such products are not certified goods.
Yes, they underwent numerous tests with various specialists, but the World Health Organization itself did not test them. In this regard, a certain position about their harm does not exist.
Is the e-liquid cigarette harmful?
To date, there are more than 7,000 kinds of different liquids for electronic cigarettes. Each of them is distinguished by its taste, smell, is with nicotine, is without it, and so on. Given all the characteristics of liquids, try to highlight the pros and cons of this method of smoking. The strengths include:
- Pretty good way to quit smoking. Choosing cartridges with different fillers, you can gradually reduce the dose of nicotine. And over time, completely abandon it;
- They do not contain products of combustion and tar, which does not destroy your lungs;
- The complete absence of odor when smoking;
- At cost, cartridges are about the same as regular cigarettes, which does not hit hard on your wallet. The only thing where you have to spend money is the purchase of the cigarette itself;
- Practical: they do not need ashtrays, because they do not leave trash.
Among the minuses we highlight the following:
- When a person quits smoking tobacco, he still remains a psychological dependence on smoking, respectively, only a change in the subject matter of dependence will occur;
- There are cases when a smoker is aware of the safety of such a method, which increases his craving for such variants of cigarettes;
- There is no guarantee that harmful substances are completely absent in liquids, since WHO has not conducted any studies;
- Quite often you can find fakes, for the quality of which no one bears any responsibility.
Is it true that they help quit smoking?
In order to get a reliable answer to this question, you need to analyze a lot of information. And as the search shows, there are simply no official data, or statements by specialists. All available unconfirmed comments suggest that e-cigarettes help reduce dependence on tobacco or completely abandon it.
But is it true? After all, the manufacturers themselves were still unable to provide the results of large-scale studies in which volunteers would take part. All that we can rely on is data from small research centers.
Electronic cigarettes, like cigarettes, contain nicotine, which is the main addictive. Of course, its quantity is much less, but it can also be compensated by a large number of puffs.
There is a psychological side of the issue. After all, the process of smoking itself still remains, it does not matter what kind of cigarettes smoker smokes.
Plus, this method of smoking does not have territorial prohibitions. After all, a smoker can appear with a cigarette in his hands in public places, in transport, and in rooms.
"Can electronic cigarettes help you quit smoking?" - this is an individual question. And if you set a goal: quitting smoking, then you must have the desire and strength of will, and you should not rely on an electronic assistant.
Electronic Cigarette Security: What Science Says
Opinions of the majority of specialists and doctors contradict each other.
At this stage, a significant part of the opinions of specialists comes down to the following:
- Heavy smokers who smoke about 20 tobacco cigarettes per day can accumulate about 1 liter of tar in their bodies throughout the year. This in turn leads to diseases of the bronchi and lungs. Electronic cigarette variants do not contain these harmful substances, which is their advantage;
- Cigarette tobacco contains more than 4000 harmful toxins that can lead to cancer. The composition of the liquid vaporizer includes food and aromatic components, the harmfulness of which is not so high;
- Nicotine, which is part of the cartridges, is in smaller quantities and usually it undergoes a high degree of purification. Of course, it can cause addiction, but the probability of abandoning it is much higher than when smoking a regular cigarette.
The conclusions of the World Health Organization on the safety of electronic cigarettes have not yet been published, since according to international requirements any conclusions are made after a ten-year period from the date of the release of the new device. But those preliminary results that exist suggest that this type of smoking is prohibited for children, pregnant women and people who have never smoked.
And finally, a short video about the dangers of electronic cigarettes.
