Using a vaporizer: Dangerous?

[Apex Anomaly]

Everyone on the vape forums says that it's entirely harmless (which is assume is biased) and that my doctor wife is crazy. The liquid I vape is 80VG/20PG 3mg Nicotine. My wife says that at a certain temperature it creates formaldehyde . Is this true? 

What other detriments are there to vaping?

[zapatos]

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These products contain many different chemicals including nicotine. Nicotine is addictive and causes harmful effects to the adolescent brain, which is still developing. Aerosols produced by e-cigarettes and vaping devices are also harmful to the lungs and contain toxic cancer-causing chemicals and other harmful agents such as volatile substances, ultra-fine particles, and heavy metals like nickel, tin and lead. Not only are teens inhaling these substances into their own lungs but bystanders also are inhaling these toxins. Other dangers include e-cigarettes and electronic devices that are defective can cause fires and serious unintended injuries. Research also suggests that youth who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke traditional cigarettes in the future.

https://www.hopkinsallchildrens.org/ACH-News/General-News/The-Dangers-of-Vaping-and-E-Cigarettes

[StringJunky]

Quote

In November 2014, following a press release from Japan [136], major media around the world reported variations of a headline: “E-cigarettes contain 10 times the carcinogens
of regular tobacco”. This was based on a Japanese researcher reporting at a press conference that during tests on a number of EC brands, one product was identified E-cigarettes: an evidence update which released 10 times more formaldehyde than cigarettes. The press release states that the formaldehyde was released when the e-liquid was over-heated. The study has not been published yet and so no further details are available, but the two experiments described below provide the explanation for this finding.

In January 2015, a similar report was published as a research letter to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) [133]. In this study, negligible levels of formaldehyde were
released at lower EC settings, but when a third generation EC (EC with variable power settings) was set to the maximum power and the apparatus was set to take puffs lasting
3–4 seconds, this generated levels of formaldehyde that, if inhaled in this way throughout the day, would exceed formaldehyde levels in cigarette smoke between five and 15 times.
The EC was puffed by the puffing machine at a higher power and longer puff duration than vapers normally use. It is therefore possible that the e-liquid was overheated to the
extent that it was releasing novel thermal degradation chemicals. Such overheating can happen during vaping when the e-liquid level is low or the power too high for a given EC
coil or puff duration. Vapers call this phenomenon ‘dry puff’ and it is instantly detected ue to a distinctive harsh and acrid taste (it is detected by vapers, but not by puffing
machines) [139]. This poses no danger to either experienced or novice vapers, because dry puffs are aversive and are avoided rather than inhaled. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733022/Ecigarettes_an_evidence_update_A_report_commissioned_by_Public_Health_England_FINAL.pdf#page=77

Relative to smoking there are few detriments to vaping. Vaping is about harm reduction not harm elimination. The UK NHS supports it as a gateway out of smoking. If it's helping you stay off the ciggies, carry on

 

 

[John Cuthber]

3 hours ago, Apex Anomaly said:

My wife says that at a certain temperature it creates formaldehyde . Is this true? 

 

She is almost certainly  correct.
However, it's debatable if the vape heater gets that hot and cigarettes generate quite a lot of formaldehyde as well as lots of other toxic tary + trash.

Vaping is the less bad option. I'd not call it "safe".

[rangerx]

Popcorn Lung

"The American Lung Association believes it's imperative that FDA act quickly to require that diacetyl and other harmful chemicals be removed from e-cigarettes."

https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2016/07/popcorn-lung-risk-ecigs.html

[StringJunky]

2 hours ago, rangerx said:

Popcorn Lung

"The American Lung Association believes it's imperative that FDA act quickly to require that diacetyl and other harmful chemicals be removed from e-cigarettes."

https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2016/07/popcorn-lung-risk-ecigs.html

From Public Heath England (NHS) - 2018

Quote

MYTH 1 -  E-cigarettes give you ‘popcorn lung’

One of the most commonly held concerns is that e-cigarettes might cause ‘popcorn lung’. This came about because some flavourings used in e-liquids to provide a buttery flavour contain the chemical diacetyl, which at very high levels of exposure has been associated with the serious lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans.

The condition gained its popular name because it was initially observed among workers in a popcorn factory.

However, diacetyl is banned as an ingredient from e-cigarettes and e-liquids in the UK. It had been detected in some e-liquid flavourings in the past, but at levels hundreds of times lower than in cigarette smoke. Even at these levels, smoking is not a major risk factor for this rare disease.  

https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2018/02/20/clearing-up-some-myths-around-e-cigarettes/

How long have people smoked and how many have had popcorn lung?

[Lisa445]

Well. it's not "entirely harmless", it's just less harmful than smoking (that was the reason I switched to vaporization a year ago). I usually read sites with the newest researches such as ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (it's US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health) or commercial url removed by moderator (it's on vaping and quitting smoking - found it last year while quitting).

 

Edited June 27, 2019 by Phi for All
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