(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s no hotter underground trend in smoking right now than vaping. There are over 2.5 million e-cig vapers in the U.S. along, with 2.7 percent of the population claiming they’ve tried e-cigs at least once. The trend in this industry continues its upward trajectory.
At the same time, there’s an opposing force out there committed to bringing down the vaping industry. Here are the top myths being put out by critics.
Vaping Is A Gateway To Smoking
One popular myth circling around is that vaping is a gateway to smoking. No. It’s not. It’s actually the other way around. Only a small percentage of people who vape were previous non-smokers. Most people are ex-smokers. The trend is going in exactly the opposite direction, with smokers using vaping as a gateway to not inhaling at all.
In fact, popular sites like VaporizerBlog.com regularly discuss how ex-smokers use vaping to help them quit. Mysteriously, or perhaps not so mysteriously, the groups that are missing are teens and non-smokers.
There’s also the 2013 study from Health Day showing that e-cigs don’t attract teens to smoking.
Another survey carried out by Action on Smoking and Health studied roughly 952 teenagers. The researchers found that only 9.4 percent of non-smokers had ever tried an e-cig with only 0.16 percent picking up the habit.
For those who reported being both vapers and smokers, 98 percent had first used tobacco, not an e-cig. This contradicts the idea that e-cigs are a gateway to smoking.
The E-Liquid Ingredients Are Secret
Every once in a while, this myth crops up. And, it’s understandable why it does. E-liquids aren’t regulated in the same way cigarettes are.
Because of this, some critics believe that there’s no “watchdog” protecting the consumer. But, there are studies on e-cig liquids and what’s in them.
These studies break out substances, concentrations, and compare them with cigarettes so we do know quite a lot about what we’re inhaling.
Some manufacturers do have proprietary processes and don’t want to disclose the ratios in the liquid what makes their liquid so good. But, the ingredients are basically the same across all manufacturers. This is because nicotine is the stimulant, and it’s sourced from the same or similar suppliers for virtually all e-liquid manufacturers.
E-cigs emit vapor, which is made of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, and various flavorings. Sometimes, manufacturers include other substances (more on that later).
Lots of people are concerned about propylene glycol because they don’t know what it is. It’s a substance recognized as safe by the FDA, which absorbs water. Additionally, it’s a commonly-found substance in various food products.
You’re probably already ingesting quite a lot of it already. So, there’s nothing new about it except that you’re inhaling it and breathing out vapor.
Finally there’s a landmark study showing that e-cig liquid is safer than smoking regular cigarettes. The flavorings, PG, and vegetable glycerine found in the liquid is, not surprisingly, less toxic than all of the substances found in cigarettes.
Nicotine levels were measured, as were various other substances. Phenols were present in minute amounts. Acetaldehyde and formaldehyde was found in almost all e-liquids. Those are two very dangerous chemicals. But, they were found in trace amounts, 200-300 times lower concentration in 1 mL of the liquid compared to 1 gram of traditional tobacco products.
The toxic substances were also only found in certain types of liquids – Natural Extract of Tobacco (NET) liquids. Overall, there were 2 to 3 orders of magnitude lower toxins in e-liquids compared to tobacco products.
Teens Can Buy It
Teens have been managing to buy booze and cigarettes for ages. If a teenager wants something, they can usually get their hands on it. But, legally, these devices cannot be sold to people under the age of 18.
So, while the age-range for e-cig users is pretty wide, it explicitly excludes minors.
Vaping Is More Expensive Than Smoking
Vaping can be expensive, especially when you’re first getting started, but over the long-term, it’s actually cheaper. Studies show that a pack a day smoker will spend approximately $2,200 per year for cigarettes compared to just $800 per year on e-liquids and maintenance of the device.
It’s a 60 percent savings – a difference likely accounted for in some part by taxes on cigarettes which aren’t levied on e-cigs or liquids.
Staff Writer; Jim West