In recent years, E-cigarettes or vapes have become increasingly more popular–especially among younger individuals like myself. I was inspired to do some research on this topic as recently someone with whom I'm close with decided to splurge on a 170$ vape in their attempt to quit smoking conventional cigarettes. I was a little taken back at the price, but I didn't think much of it as I supported the thought behind it. I, myself, have tried these before and enjoyed it (they come in multiple flavours so it's quite pleasant), and was always told "it's only water vapour, so it's good for you" but I decided to investigate further as I asked myself: Is it really completely harmless?
Turns out, based on a number of studies, no...but it depends. Basically, on a vape (including the one my friend purchased), you have the option to increase or decrease the voltage. This essentially means how much of the flavoured liquid you fill it up with is heated to (which then causes it to evaporate and turn into "smoke"). Based on multiple studies done including The New England Journal of Medicine, it concluded that vaping on a high voltage releases the chemical formaldehyde (a known carcinogen) and one study even claimed you are 15 times more likely of getting cancer than a long-term smoker if you vape on a high voltage. This relates to our fifth unit "Gases and Atmospheric Chemistry" as the process of vaping turns a liquid into a gas (through energy given via electricity), and well...that's some form of atmospheric chemistry happening!
My personal opinion on the idea is pretty neutral. Some people claim vapes are "dumb" or "pointless" or "people only do it to look cool", but what the heck! If you're doing it safely, who cares the reason why? Whether that be for quitting tabacco, for health benefits (someone told me it greatly helps their asthma!), food cravings, or just for the fun of it, if it's used properly, doesn't harm your health (or improves it!) and tastes like candy, vape away!
What do you think about the idea of vapours/e-cigs? Would you ever purchase one? Why or why not?
Link to Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/opinion/joe-nocera-is-vaping-worse-than-smoking.html?_r=0
Hey Reilly
ReplyDeleteAs you probably know vapours/e-cigs can be used as a method to help quit smoking cigarettes but sometimes that is misconstrued into thinking that it contains no nicotine at all. Of course there is a lot of new studies on if it is better or worse than smoking itself but I do think that it does have more benefits and is a much better substitution for cigarettes. I personally don't think I would buy one as I don't feel the need for one!