Is vaping good or bad for your health? This is the question many smokers who want to quit smoking and adopt vapes are asking.
The CDC, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, is going to war with vaping. According to the American agency, the number of deaths linked to vape is on the rise, not to mention the increase in pulmonary diseases.
For its part, the Food and Drugs Administration, the American agency for food and drug products, ensures that the menthol aromas of vape are carcinogenic.
An American war whose first battles have already been won: New York and San Francisco have banned the use of vape in public spaces. India has just taken the same precautions. Is vaping dangerous? More or less than cigarettes?
To find out more, we asked Dr. Marion Adler, a doctor, and tobacco specialist at Antoine-Béclère hospital in Clamart.
Are electronic cigarettes dangerous?
“Cigarettes are 100% absolutely dangerous and we can estimate the vape at 5% of the dangerousness of cigarettes. Obviously, the best is to breathe the ambient air but it is better to take a vape than to have a cigarette.”
There were still 12 deaths in the United States, is it that there is the danger?
“People put vape liquid in the vape that was absolutely not allowed. They put a little oil in their vape. If you put any product in it and in particular oily products that are absolutely not made to fit into our lungs, the risk of developing lung disease is enormous, and that is what has happened to Americans who have been consuming products they have found. on the black market, which contained oil and in particular cannabis oil. These products in the lungs cause very serious respiratory diseases and can cause death, this is what happened to the United States.”
Are e-cigarette liquids full of chemicals?
“The e-liquid contains three elements. The propylene glycol which is used to vaporize and suddenly penetrate into the lungs, food flavors that follow the AFNOR standards, the AFNOR standards being very, very strict standards which make it possible to ingest these aromas and nicotine This is the only substance in cigarettes that is not toxic, what is toxic in cigarettes is tobacco smoke, and the 4,000 substances resulting from combustion. Nicotine is an addictive substance, it is an extremely powerful drug, but when you want to get rid of tobacco, you have to take nicotine to get rid of them without suffering, so nicotine is not dangerous. “
But the Food and Drugs Administration claims that menthol flavors are carcinogenic
“For the moment, on the French market, in any case, there are no dangerous aromas that have the authorization to be sold. It is important, that is to say, that We must continue to check the aromas, we must continue to have very strict standards on vaping liquids, but these liquids which are sold in France, have no toxicity in themselves. Here in France, we have aromas. with mint which is absolutely non-toxic. “
So, is vaping safe?
“The Public Health of England estimates that vaping is 5% of the risk of smoking. So I’m not saying it’s completely risk-free, but it’s infinitely better than smoking. Very often I suggest to my patients to combine validated treatments, which are nicotine substitutes or drugs like Champix, associated with vaping if they need it. “
Doctor Rose Marie Rouquet, another smoking expert, explains to us that it is the combustion of a tobacco that is at the origin of the production of a hundred carcinogenic components. However, it is important to mention that when vaping with an vape no toxic substances are produced, according to her.
The composition of e-liquids is not dangerous to health, at least if we are content to use it for its primary function: vaping. Indeed, they are composed of propylene glycol or glycerol which is a product of chemosynthesis. This viscous liquid vaporizes between 60 and 100 ° C and is eliminated via the kidneys. The remaining components are water, 4.5% ethyl alcohol, organic acids, and flavors. However, their ingestion can be very toxic, but this type of danger is generally indicated on the packaging. Likewise, contact with liquid should be cautious because of the risk of burns to the skin, eyes, or mucous membranes.
In short, e-liquids are not masks or aromas that you can add to your cakes. You should not trust the ease that you can have to buy it because behind it is a huge work on the part of researchers and scientists, to allow you to have a pleasant experience using your vape.
Is the e-cigarette an anti-smoking solution?
The e-cigarette can be a tool to help with withdrawal; with the support of a tobacco specialist, you have a better chance of achieving your goal. So vaping is the renormalization of smoking. The vaper and those around them are less exposed to the risk of suffering from diseases and problems related to the toxicity of smoke. However, we do not yet have the hindsight to understand the danger of vape liquid.
In addition, smoked nicotine is known for its acute cardiovascular effects, is a tumor promoter, and may induce neurodegeneration in young people.
Should we adopt the vapor cigarette?
The vape should be recognized as a device, a treatment to emancipate oneself from tobacco. It should in no way become a fashion accessory or a promotional tool for young people because we do not yet have enough perspective on the danger of vape. New electronic cigarettes are more and more efficient. They allow you a manual adjustment guaranteeing you a better vapor.
Do we have enough perspective to know all the risks of vaping?
“There are still 10 years of hindsight with patient monitoring and efficacy studies in relation to smoking cessation which are underway and which show that it has high efficiency in smoking cessation, it is is really a help for many people, not for everyone but for many people, which is not negligible. The goal is to stop smoking. The cancer risk with tobacco is known, so if it is vaping or smoking it is better indeed, to vape. At the moment there is no evidence of links between cancer and vaping, but of course, we must continue to follow the scientific studies. “
The resistances of vapers, can they be dangerous?
“It is important to follow certain standards. Already, buy vapers from CI merchants.
On the occasion of the 2014 Bichat Interviews, a medical and scientific conference, questions about vape were finally able to be answered.
It is Doctor Rose Marie Rouquet who answers on the danger of the e-cigarette, tobacco specialist for 11 years and pulmonologist at the Larrey hospital in Toulouse, who shared his expertise to explain to us his point of view on the different themes.
In short, the vape is not one hundred percent healthy, but unlike a paper cigarette, it is much whiter. You should know that the goal of researchers for the future years is to develop e-liquids with fewer toxic components and without nicotine since we have seen above, that this substance is not essential for the brain to assimilate steam with tobacco consumption.
