E-Cigarettes: Safe Alternative, or Dangerous Gateway Drug?

E-cigarettes have increased in popularity in the last 5 years, and many people are unsure about whether they are safe to use. Recent studies show that e-cigarettes pollute the air with dangerous chemicals, and that their use has sparked greater likelihoods of poisoning and tobacco use. However, there is also some evidence that supports the claim that e-cigarettes can act as a good substitute for traditional tobacco cigarettes, and even that e-cigarettes emit far fewer pollutants than traditional tobacco cigarettes do.

For example, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine provides very strong evidence that e-cigarettes produce dangerous compounds. The study found that at the high voltages (5.0 V) at which e-cigarettes can function,

“a mean (±SE) of 380±90 μg per sample (10 puffs) of formaldehyde was detected as formaldehyde-releasing agents … [and] an e-cigarette user vaping at a rate of 3 ml per day would inhale 14.4±3.3 mg of formaldehyde per day in formaldehyde-releasing agents” (Jensen et al., 2015).

In comparison, conventional cigarettes only deliver about 3 mg of formaldehyde for every pack of 20 cigarettes. Therefore, a conventional cigarette smoker would have to smoke approximately 100 cigarettes to inhale as much formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing agents as an e-cigarette smoker would with just 3 ml of e-liquid, which is the average amount that an e-cigarette smoker uses in a day.

Research conducted by R.E. Bunnell et al. studied middle and high school students’ likelihood to smoke traditional tobacco cigarettes and its correlation to whether they had ever vaped e-cigarettes before. The study showed that “intention to smoke conventional cigarettes was 43.9% among ever e-cigarette users and 21.5% among never users” (Bunnell et al., 2014). Therefore, there is a great social impact being made by e-cigarettes, and its widespread use is shown to lead many young people to use traditional tobacco cigarettes, therefore deeming e-cigarettes as more of a gateway drug than a safe alternative.

In an article published on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, researchers collected date involving calls made to the CDC involving exposure to traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. In their research, they found that “E-cigarettes accounted for an increasing proportion of combined monthly e-cigarette and cigarette exposure calls, increasing from 0.3% in September 2010 to 41.7% in February 2014” (Chatham-Stephens et al., 2014).

It is clear that the number of calls due to e-cigarette exposure have increased exponentially in recent years.

Of course, this increase can be attributed in part to the increase in widespread e-cigarette use, and therefore increase in probability that inept people could hurt or poison themselves. However, “Cigarette exposures were primarily among persons aged 0–5 years (94.9%), whereas e-cigarette exposures were mostly among persons aged 0–5 years (51.1%) and >20 years (42.0%)” (Chatham-Stephens et al., 2014), which proves that regardless of age and cognitive ability, everyone is susceptible to the dangers that e-cigarettes pose.

Despite evidence provided by various sources and researchers, some people feel that e-cigarettes are a harmless hobby. And there is some evidence that suggests that this argument about e-cigarettes is true. For example, a study conducted by T.R. McAuley et al. involved collecting data and comparing amounts of harmful compounds like VOCs, carbonyls and glycols emitted when e-cigarettes were vaporized in a room versus when tradition cigarettes were vaporized in the same room. The results concluded that e-cigarettes produced far fewer harmful emissions than traditional cigarettes did, hence showing that e-cigarettes are a safe alternative to traditional cigarettes (McAuley et al., 2012).

Furthermore, a study conducted by J. Brown et al. for the Society for the Study of Addiction tested people’s likelihood of quitting when using e-cigarettes as a crutch, using nicotine replacement therapy, and using no aid. Their research concluded that “the adjusted odds of non-smoking in users of e-cigarettes were 1.58 (95% CI = 1.13–2.21) times higher compared with users of NRT bought over-the-counter and 1.55 (95% CI = 1.14–2.11) times higher compared with those using no aid” (J. Brown et al., 2014). This proves that e-cigarettes can function well as a traditional cigarette replacement, and can even help those struggling to quit to finally do so.

I feel that the sources that I have researched provide a solid array of information to help guide my video. I am on the fence about my goal of the video, however after doing research I am leaning toward presenting both sides of the argument about e-cigarettes and allowing the viewer to make their own decision based on the evidence and analysis that they take away from the video.

Brown, J., Beard, E., Kotz, D., Michie, S., West., R. Real-world effectiveness of e-cigarettes when used to aid smoking cessation: a cross-sectional population study. Society for the Study of Addiction. Vol 109, p 1531-1540. 2014.

Bunnell, R., Agaku, I., Apelberg, B., Caraballo, R., King, B., Arrazola, R., … Dube, S. Intentions to smoke cigarettes among never-smoking U.S. middle and high school electronic cigarette users, National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2011-2013. Oxford University Press Nicotine and Tobacco Research. Vol 18. 2014.

Chatham-Stephens, K., Law, R., Taylor, E., Melstrom, P., Bunnell, R., Wang, B., … Schier, J.G. CDC Grand Rounds: Global Tobacco Control. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vol 63, p 277-297. 2014.

Jensen, R.P., Luo, W., Pankow, J.F., Strongin, R.M., Peyton, D.H. Hidden Formaldehyde in E-Cigarette Aerosols. New England Journal of Medicine. Vol 372, p 392-394. 2015.

McAuley, T.R., Hopke, P.K., Zhao, J., Babaian, S. Comparison of the effects of e-cigarette vapor and cigarette smoke on indoor air quality. Inhalation Toxicology. Vol 24, p 850-857. 2012.