Tobacco use has been a part of human life for centuries. It was often prescribed for various ailments. At least until researchers Sir Richard Doll and A. Bradford Hill demonstrated a clear correlation between smoking and lung cancer mortality rates among the 40,000 British doctors studied (Doll and Hill 1950). This paved the way for future research, and led to several public health campaigns against smoking.
One of these developments was the E-Cigarette. Patented in 2003 by Hon Lik, the e-cigarette was produced as an alternative to traditional tobacco smoking. They operate by vaporizing a liquid solution, which may contain nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco (Choucair 2022). “Vaping” as it is often called, soared in popularity in the 2010s and has now become the predominant tobacco product among today's youth (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] 2016).
A common misconception is viewing these e-cigarette products as harmless, especially the ones that do not contain nicotine. This is simply not true. However, these products are marketed toward a younger audience with more unconventional flavor choices such as fruit, candy, or bubble gum. Different from the tobacco or menthol flavors they were originally designed to mimic.
Coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath are symptoms associated with serious lung damage from a condition known as bronchiolitis obliterans, often referred to as “popcorn lung.” This condition was first identified in workers exposed to diacetyl in the air at microwave popcorn factories (Kreiss et al. 2002). Concerns about the safety of e-cigarettes have been heightened by the presence of diacetyl in many flavored vaping products, challenging the perception of their harmlessness. A 2016 study looked to test 51 e-cigarette flavors for known harmful chemicals such as diacetyl, for which 39 were above the laboratory limit (Allen et al.). This indicated a potential risk to e-cigarette users.
Bronchiolitis obliterans is not the only risk of e-cigarette use. Like their traditional counterparts, may increase the risk of coronary heart disease, oral infections, and even seizures (Choucair 2022). These health concerns are severe and make it important to understand all of the risks which come with vaping. E-cigarettes are not safe, nor should they be an alternative to smoking. Please take care of your lungs.
If you do smoke, and are looking to quit. Look to the resources of the American Lung Association: https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/i-want-to-quit
References:
Allen JG, Flanigan SS, LeBlanc M, Vallarino J, MacNaughton P, Stewart JH, Christiani DC. 2016. Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a sample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes. Environ Health Perspect 124:733–739; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510185
Choucair B. 2022. E-cigarette | characteristics, safety issues, & regulation | britannica. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/e-cigarette.
Doll R, Hill AB. 1950. Smoking and carcinoma of the lung; preliminary report. Br Med J. 2(4682):739–748. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4682.739.
Kreiss K, Gomaa A, Kullman G, Fedan K, Simoes EJ, Enright PL. 2002. Clinical bronchiolitis obliterans in workers at a microwave-popcorn plant. N Engl J Med. 347(5):330–338. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa020300.
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (US) Office on Smoking and Health. 2016. Introduction, Conclusions, and Historical Background Relative to E-Cigarettes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538684/. Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board