Reasons Why Electronic Cigarettes Are Not Healthy Essay Sample

The hyped television advertisements on electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are all passing across one message that e-cigarettes will save the users and bystanders from the tobacco smoke, simply because the ‘vapor’ byproduct is a lesser evil than tobacco smoke. The implication of this hype, which unfortunately is even being passed to children, is that e-cigarettes are okay to use everywhere. Just like the counterpart tobacco companies, the e-cigarette marketers are endorsing a deadly product without disclosing the side effects to the unsuspecting users. With millions of people dying every year due to harmful effects of tobacco cigarettes, the e-cigarettes seems like a savior that would save millions of lives. Tobacco smoking leads to addiction and users try various methods to quit smoking, often to no avail. Proponents of e-cigarettes often use this argument by citing they help to promote a smoking cessation; thus helping the tobacco cigarette users to trick their mind to quitting smoking. However, researchers Grana, Popova and Ling (2015) concur with other previous studies “e-cigarette use by smokers was not followed by greater quitting, or reduction in consumption one year later.” (813). What this means is that the smoking cessation claim is just a marketing gimmick to lure more users into using e-cigarettes, and as the industry continue to make billions in profits, users continue to be hooked into a habit that harmful to their health. Although scientific studies are still ongoing on the health effects of e-cigarettes, the results are already indicating that e-cigarettes pose various health risks. Therefore, before you ‘vape’ know that e-cigarettes risks your health because they produce formaldehyde, a carcinogen that increases your risk to a number of cancers, in addition to fact that your lungs could be at risk of inflammation and virus infection from the vapor.
The much hyped fame of e-cigarettes sound like a panacea for nearly all health problems associated with conventional cigarettes, while in fact we could be courting more deaths because the vapor in e-cigarettes have been found to contain formaldehyde. In fact, current researches on this topic indicates that e-cigarettes poses a worse risk than conventional tobacco smoking as the risk of exposure is five to 15 times higher from e-cigarettes (Pursell 2014). These results downplays the assumption that e-cigarettes are safe, while in reality the world is sitting on a time bomb as more users continue to embrace the use of e-cigarettes. In fact, the risk is even higher because as few as 10 puffs increases the user’s exposure to formaldehyde 2.5 compared to smoking one tobacco cigarette (Kaplan 2015). As highlighted by Kaplan (2015), World Health Organization warns that formaldehyde is a harmful chemical often linked to several cancers like leukemia and nasopharyngeal cancer. This hypothesis is also supported by United States Environmental Protection Agency that the chemical is a probable human carcinogen. Probably we may need more studies to support this hypothesis, but the fact that there is even a slight possibility that e-cigarettes contain formaldehyde warrants the conclusion that e-cigarettes are not safe, as they pose serious health risks to users and second-hand users.
Tobacco smoking is a health concern because they contain a chemical that causes various cancers. So are the e-cigarettes the healthy alternative in eliminating the premature deaths? Probably not, because current studies indicate that e-cigarettes when burned at high-voltage releases formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, that has been linked to several cancers. E-cigarettes are a new phenomena, and scientific research on the health effects from long-term use are lacking, and it would take years to have conclusive evidence on the actual effects of usage. However, the fact that more people are embracing the use of e-cigarettes indicates that the world could be courting more deaths in the near future, associated with e-cigarettes. The report by Utah Department of Health (2015) established that over 12 percent of teenagers had been lured into trying e-cigarette, thus putting themselves at the risk of cancer.
Furthermore, a study by Qun Wu et al. (2014) has provided strong data to confirm that e-cigarettes pose serious health risks particularly on lungs. The study focusing on the airway epithelial inflammation and the innate immunity in young people established that several effects of e-cigarettes such a wheezing, pneumonia and cough have been reported in young people social media forums. Of course, proponents are quick to counter the claim citing that a user is free to choose an e-liquid with or without nicotine, and thus the results should not be generalized to classify all brands of e-cigarettes as harmful. However, as confirmed by Qun Wu et al. (2014) there is a notable proportion of adolescents and young adults who are using e-cigarettes and have never smoked tobacco. As of 2012, approximately 1.78 million US youth used the e-cigarette. This means that the manufacturers are exposing millions of young people to a product whose affects on health are uncertain . Until researchers could present scientific data to counter Qun Wu et al. (2014) research data, the current results that even nicotine-free e-liquid can promote a pro-inflammatory response and HRV infections confirms the health risks of e-cigarettes, confirming that safer does not mean safe.
In conclusion, studies on the detrimental health effects of e-cigarettes are still in infancy, but proponents should not use that downplay that there a higher chance that e-cigarettes could create more harm to the users than conventional tobacco. In as far there is a need to help tobacco smokers to quit the harmful habit, in a move to combat the untimely death or health complications, marketers should stop promoting e-cigarettes as the better option. Current studies show that e-cigarettes has little effect in promoting smoking cessation, therefore truth should be told that e-cigarettes is a new way by cigarette companies to lure more smokers as they continue to reap billions in profits. E-cigarette users should be wary because they could be ‘vaping’ their way into serious health complications because research suggests e-cigarettes produce formaldehyde, a carcinogen that increases your risk to a number of cancers, in addition to fact that your lungs could be at risk of inflammation and virus infection from the vapor.

References

Grana, R. A, Popova, L. & Ling, P. M. (2014). A longitudinal analysis of electronic cigarette use and smoking cessation. JAMA Intern Med, 174 (1): 812-813.
Kaplan, K. (2015, January 21). E-cigarettes can produce more formaldehyde than regular cigarettes, study says. Los Angeles Times , pp. 1-2.
Pursell, R. D. (2014). Electronic cigarettes: Do we know the benefits vs the risks? BCMJ, 56 (8):398-399.
Wu, Qun. J. et al. (2014). Electronic Cigarette Liquid Increases Inflammation and Virus Infection in Primary Human Airway Epithelial Cells. Plos ONE , 9 (9):: 1-6.