The safety of e-smoking has not been thoroughly investigated. While it seems
very likely that e-smoking is safer than smoking tobacco cigarettes, there are
two aspects of e-smoking of which potential e-smokers should be aware:
- Nicotine Use
- Inhalation of Propylene Glycol
Although nicotine is far from the most harmful chemical found in tobacco cigarettes,
it is not an entirely benign chemical. Please view the
Wikipedia article on nicotine for
more information.
Propylene glycol, the chemical which gives the vaopr produced by e-cigarettes its smokey
look and feel, is "generally recognized as safe" by the FDA for use in food and
medicines, but the effects of inhaling large amounts of it over an extended period of
time have not been investigated. It appears that a small percentage of individuals find propylene
glycol irritating when inhaled, resulting in a sore throat. For more information, see
the Wikipeda article on
Propylene Glycol.
Below are a couple of reports on e-smoking by www.healthnz.co.nz. ECigReview.com cannot
attest to the veracity of these reports, but here they are, regardless: