Electronic cigarettes are becoming more and more popular, both with smokers who are wishing to quit and smokers who dislike analog cigarettes but wish to continue exhaling something that closely resembles smoke. While some are quick to jump headlong into new products and devices, there are others who wait for research on the the safety of these new devices before jumping on the bandwagon. Due to these concerns, many leading scientists and health experts around the world have researched the safety of ejuice, second-hand vapor, and the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation device.

Whether you are a smoker looking for a way to quit, a smoker who detests the taste and smell of analogs, someone who is worried about breathing in e-cigarette vapor, or someone who is wanting flavor and taste without the calories or allergens, the studies compiled below should help to alleviate any of your fears regarding the use of e-cigarettes and e-juice.

Any updates to this article will be presented at the end of this article. Last updated on 2/9/14.

E-Cig and E-Juice Safety: Are They Safe?

Second-Hand Vapor Safety: Is Vapor Safe for Others?

E Cigs as Smoking Cessation Devices: Does the Research Show That They Work?

So what do all these studies mean?

The papers compiled above indicates that while nothing is better than breathing clean air, the vapor derived of e-juice in e-cigarette devices is magnitudes safer than analog cigarette smoke (as well as safer than air pollution in large cities). Regarding the research on second-hand vapor, some scientists and health experts conclude that there is no real need for concern. And as far as the question about the actual effectiveness of e cigs as smoking cessation devices, the studies indicate that e-cigarettes are at least as effective as nicotine patches.

Updates

Nicotine and Health: a publication by the American Council on Science and Health: Listed below are some quotes from the publication that pertain to e-cigarettes.

Cancerous effects:

Electronic cigarette vapor appears chemically incapable of causing cancer as cigarette smoke has done. E-cigarette vapor contains toxicants concentrations averaging less than one percent of the concentrations in tobacco cigarette smoke.

Taxation efforts:

Governments looking to recoup future excise losses on declining tobacco sales could be tempted to tax e-cigarettes. This would make electronic cigarettes less price-competitive and would have the unwanted side effect of protecting tobacco sales.

Respiratory effects:

These randomized controlled trials followed participants for six and 12 months, and found no serious adverse events attributable to electronic cigarettes.

Lung function:

Lung function was not signifcantly decreased in 15 smokers using e-cigarettes, or in 15 never-smokers inhaling the vapor of e-cigarettes or inhaling smoke; lung function was, however, significantly decreased seven percent by active tobacco smoking.

Cardiovascular:

Arterial stiffness is not increased from vaping

Red and white blood cells are not increased in the peripheral blood in the first hour after an e-cigarette either actively or passively inhaled.

Nicotine administered by electronic cigarette can relieve chronic idiopathic neutrophilia

Brain effects:

Nicotine in e-cigarettes reduces the urge to smoke and improves mood, working memory, and prospective memory

QUESTION 1. DO E-CIGARETTES LEAD CHILDREN INTO SMOKING?

On the evidence to date, the answer is no. The percentage risk of never smokers using e-cigarettes (whether adolescents or adults) is near zero

Safety evaluation and risk assessment of electronic cigarettes as tobacco cigarettes substitutes: A systematic review: A total of 114 studies are referenced in this paper, with 97 directly related to e-cigarettes or their ingredients. The review covers all aspects, from chemical to clinical studies, including studies evaluating the potential effects of selected ingredients of e-cigarettes such as propylene glycol and glycerol. It includes discussion about the effects of nicotine and findings from studies evaluating passive exposure to e-cigarette aerosol.This is the first extensive e-cigarette review published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The main themes of the paper are: discussion about nicotine and its effects-toxicity, presentation of chemical studies, cytotoxicity studies, clinical-case report studies and surveys, passive vaping studies and miscellaneous issues such as e-cigarette use by specific subpopulations (patients with respiratory disease or psychiatric conditions), accidental nicotine exposure, electrical accidents and fires and use by youngsters and non-smokers. Discussion about mistakes in methodology and mis-interpretation of findings is also included.

Long-term effects of inhaled nicotine: A study where rats were given inhaled nicotine at twice the amount of heavy smokers, which found “increase in mortality, in atherosclerosis or frequency of tumors in these rats compared with controls. Particularly, there was no microscopic or macroscopic lung tumors nor any increase in pulmonary neuroendocrine cells. Throughout the study, however, the body weight of the nicotine exposed rats was reduced as compared with controls. In conclusion, our study does not indicate any harmful effect of nicotine when given in its pure form by inhalation.”



Written 1/28/14; Last updated 2/16/14