The latest trends in smoking are changing. Technology advancement has updated everything including the typical methods of smoking. Electronic cigarettes are gaining popularity among young adults. The multiple styles and sizes of e-cigarettes available in a vape shop make them very enticing options.
In fact, according to the Centers Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is now the most popular form of tobacco use among young people in the United States. Manufacturers market e-cigarettes as tools for quitting or cutting down on smoking, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) class them as tobacco products.
What are electronic cigarettes?
An electronic cigarette is a battery-operated device that emits a vaporized solution to inhale. This solution is mostly composed of nicotine. This gives a sensation of tobacco inhalation without smoke. The liquid inside may have a fruity fragrance but is composed of high nicotine.
Electronic cigarettes are known as “e-cigs,” “e-hookahs,” “mods,” “vape pens,” “vapes,” “tank systems,” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS)”. These come in a variety of shapes, some even look like USB devices, while others look like a pen.
How e-cigs work
Most e-cigarettes are composed of the following parts:
- The mouthpiece: The mouthpiece is a cartridge fixed to the end of a tube. Inside it is a small plastic cup containing absorbent material soaked in a liquid solution.
- The atomizer: This heats the liquid, causing it to vaporize so that a person can inhale it.
- The battery: This powers the heating element.
- The sensor: This activates the heater when the user sucks on the device.
- The solution: E-liquid, or e-juice, contains a combination of nicotine, a base, which is usually propylene glycol, and flavoring.
When the user sucks on the mouthpiece, the heating element vaporizes the solution, which the person then “vapes,” or inhales. Various flavors may vary from tradition and menthol to watermelon and “lava flow.”
Types of electronic cigarettes
Several types of electronic cigarettes fall under three categories. These are:
Cigalike E-cigarettes
Small and discreet vapes resembling in appearance with the traditional cigarettes. These are pre-filled disposable cartridges that screw on rechargeable batteries.
Classic Vape Kits Or ‘mtl Kits’
These pen-shaped vapes contain refillable tanks. These tanks are filled with e-liquid, available in multiple flavors. The device is well known for its MTL (mouth to lung) property.
Sub-ohm Vape Kits Or ‘dtl Kits’
Similar to classic kits, they consist of a refillable tank and battery. However, these devices are designed for DTL or ‘direct-to-lung vaping. Their feature of creating bigger clouds and allowing users to inhale vapors directly to lungs is the most fascinating one.
Are e-cigarettes less harmful than regular cigarettes?
Yes, the concept behind e-cigarettes was actually to eradicate typical cigarette smoking. E-cigarettes were strived to make them less harmful, however, they are not still completely safe. The aerosol produced by e-cigarettes is less toxic and harmful.
E-cigarette aerosol generally contains fewer toxic chemicals than the deadly mix of 7,000 chemicals in smoke from regular cigarettes. However, e-cigarette aerosols are not harmless. It can contain potentially harmful substances, including nicotine, heavy metals like lead, volatile organic compounds, and cancer-causing agents.
However, e-cigarettes may prove to be beneficial in allowing non-pregnant adults who smoke to use e-cigarettes as a complete substitute for all cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products.
Conclusion
E-cigarettes can act as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other tobacco products. Most likely for adult smokers and non pregnant smokers. Although helpful for some and harmful for others, research is still being made on their impacts.
As a whole, they are not safe for teens, pregnant women, and old-age non-smokers. Indeed, if you’ve never smoked or used other tobacco products or e-cigarettes, don’t start.
