The answer is NO, the electronic cigarette is NOT carcinogenic. The electronic cigarette
contains well-known substances approved by different health organizations worldwide and
many of its components are widely used in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
Popularity of E-Cigarettes:
Since a few months ago the electronic cigarette began to become popular , public opinion is
witnessing a subtle smear campaign towards these new devices.
A long -and sometimes cloudy- history of competition and crossed interests between large
companies, which are not interested in this product becoming popular .
This war of interests, in which the health of consumers is being exchanged, makes the most
skeptical suspect that behind the alarmist warnings about electronic cigarettes , the long shadow
of the industries that market the products that precisely they intend to leave.
A New Invention:
In not a few media we have seen headlines focused on the alleged lack of effectiveness of
electronic cigarettes as a recreational means and as an aid to quit smoking.
According to this information, various health-related organizations have warned of the “lack of
studies that demonstrate the efficacy of electronic cigarettes” , from which the unsuspecting
reader should conclude that such institutions advise against its use.
Or put another way: that in the face of doubts about the full effectiveness of electronic cigarettes,
we should continue smoking conventional cigarettes, despite the fact that their harmful nature has
been solidly demonstrated for decades.
Studies Related to E-Cigarettes:
To reinforce this argument, he has sometimes referred to a now famous pulmonological study
according to which electronic cigarettes contain the same harmful substances as traditional
tobacco, and whose effects include the constriction of the airways in patients with respiratory
conditions.
As happens with statistical science, in popular journalism the interpretation of data is an essential
factor when it comes to understanding the information that is presented to us and in this case,
the data thrown is well disguised , in a way that makes it seem that if electronic cigarettes are
consumed , a disproportionate harm would be caused, nothing could be further from the truth.
“The liquid of electronic cigarettes contains substances identical to those of traditional tobacco” .
Indeed: nicotine is an alkaloid generated only by the tobacco plant, and has various properties.
One of them, well known and studied, is to cause constriction of the respiratory airways.
What is deliberately omitted is that, in effect, through the electronic cigarette the human body
inhales nicotine (the same substance supplied by nicotine patches and gum), but what is not
being inhaled it is the tar, the ammonia, the CO2 derived from the combustion of the tobacco
plant, paper, glue, and ink.
Up to a thousand compounds, in short, many of which are demonstrably known carcinogenic. On
the contrary, the active principles of the electronic cigarette liquid are only three, and they
are well known by the food industry:
– Propylene glycol (Used for decades as a food additive, considered safe)
– Nicotine (Derived from tobacco)
– Glycerol (Component of vegetable and animal oils, widely used in the pharmaceutical industry
and even as a moisturizer by tobacco companies).
The electronic cigarette is increasingly present in our streets, cafeterias and workplaces.
Countless consumers are quitting smoking thanks to it, saving money and making their lives
healthier.
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