Clearing the air about Electronic Cigarettes

First in a Series Copyright 2014 R. William Davis

I was browsing the web to ay an ran a!ross an arti!le abo"t a!tress #"lia $o"is% Drey&"s p"&&ing on an ele!troni! !igarette on !amera "ring the re!ent '1st (nn"al )ol en )lobe (war s. *Dr. +anny, -sing e%!igarettes "ring the )ol en )lobes was irresponsible.. I was str"!/ by Dr. +anny0s opinion o& the ele!troni! !igarette. First he states the &ollowing, *123hat smo/ing !ontrib"tes to heart isease4 p"lmonary isease an !ompli!ations "ring pregnan!y. F"rthermore4 smo/ing /ills an estimate 1'54640 women in the -nite States every year.. 2hen4 in!re ibly4 he says, *In my opinion4 e%!igarettes are not a goo s"bstit"te &or real !igarettes4 be!a"se they still !ontain ni!otine 7 whi!h is highly a i!tive.. +y a vi!e to Dr. +anny is to go ba!/ an rea his !opy o& the 8ippo!rati! 9ath whi!h states4 in part, *I will not be ashame to say :I /now not40 nor will I &ail to !all in my !olleag"es when the s/ills o& another are nee e &or a patient;s re!overy.. It is obvio"s that the goo o!tor */nows not. on this s"b<e!t4 espe!ially !onsi ering that4 by his own a mission it is the smoke that /ills4 not the ni!otine4 an ele!troni! !igarettes eliminate 100% o& the smo/e. It is this one &a!t that is !entral to the *smo/e vs. vapor. ebate. ="t what abo"t the ni!otine> Dr. +anny4 in yo"r !ase4 it is time to !all some !olleag"es &or a m"!h nee e se!on opinion. First is Dr. =ra Ro "4 *?ro&essor o& +e i!ine at the -niversity o& $o"isville . . . an a member o& the #ames )raham =rown Can!er Center.. Dr. Ro " is @"ite !lear on the s"b<e!t,

*1I3t0s the smo/e that /ills1.3 Ai!otine is not the !a"se o& any smo/ing% relate isease. It0s abo"t as sa&e as !a&&eine4 another a i!tive s"bstan!e en<oye by millions o& !ons"mers o& !o&&ee4 tea an !ola rin/s.. FD(, F"tBing an Di ling (ro"n with Ai!otine (nother !olleag"e Dr. +anny sho"l !all in is Dr. +i!hael Siegel4 ?ro&essor in the Department o& Comm"nity 8ealth S!ien!es4 =oston -niversity S!hool o& ?"bli! 8ealth4 an &ormerly with the 9&&i!e on Smo/ing an 8ealth at the Centers &or Disease Control. (!!or ing to Dr. Siegel, *It is very tr"e that ni!otine is not the main !omponent o& the toba!!o smo/e that is responsible &or most o& the a verse health e&&e!ts. =e!a"se ele!troni! !igarettes eliver ni!otine witho"t most o& the tens o& tho"san s o& other !hemi!alsCan witho"t the more than D0 /nown !ar!inogensCit is !lear that ele!troni! !igarettes are m"!h sa&er than toba!!o !igarettes.. (larm =ells over E%Cigarettes I& the ni!otine in ele!troni! !igarettes was !omparable to that in reg"lar toba!!o !igarettes4 perhaps Dr. +anny wo"l be <"sti&ie in his opinion. ( st" y p"blishe in (meri!an #o"rnal o& ?"bli! 8ealth in 200' &o"n that the toba!!o !ompanies have manip"late the a i!tive properties o& !igarettes4 with a itives other than ni!otine, *In!rease /nowle ge abo"t !igarette a itives ma/es it !lear that mo ern !igarettes are very i&&erent &rom !igarettes o& the past4 in that they have been eFtensively engineere to be elivery evi!es &or ni!otine an other ingre ients. Evi en!e &rom toba!!o in "stry o!"ments in i!ates that a itives have been "se to increase free base nicotine and addiction potential an to mas/ an treat symptoms. . . 1emphasis mine3 *9"r res"lts in i!ate that more than 100 o& G66 o!"mente !igarette a itives have pharma!ologi!al a!tions. ?revio"s resear!h 1H421422 has o!"mente eFtensive e&&orts by the toba!!o in "stry to "se a itives to mas/ the presen!e o& E2S Ienvironmental toba!!o smo/eJ by re "!ing the visibility4 o or4 an irritability o& toba!!o smo/e. Similar to the &in ings o& previo"s st" ies4 o"r res"lts show that the toba!!o in "stry "se a itives I1J that enhan!e or maintain ni!otine elivery an !o"l in!rease the

a i!tiveness o& !igarettes an I2J that mas/ symptoms an illnesses asso!iate with smo/ing behavior. 2o o"r /nowle ge4 there has been no systemati! eval"ation o& the p"bli! health e&&e!ts o& !igarette a itives or their !omb"stion pro "!ts. 2he toba!!o in "stry has a!tively manip"late !igarette !ontent by "sing potentially haBar o"s !hemi!al an phyto!hemi!al a itives that sho"l be reg"late . -nreg"late "se o& a itives in toba!!o pro "!ts s"b<e!ts billions o& smo/ers an nonsmo/ers ali/e to an "n!ontrolle eFperiment with potentially evastating health e&&e!ts.. 8owever4 in the typi!al ele!troni! !igarette4 the ni!otine is -S? gra e4 an the other ingre ients are basi!ally -S? )ra e ?ropylene )ly!ol4 -S? )ra e Kegetable )ly!erin4 -S? )ra e )ly!erol4 -S? )ra e De%ioniBe Water4 nat"ral an arti&i!ial &lavoring. 9bvio"sly4 there will be i&&eren!es in both vapor <"i!e ingre ients an @"ality. 2he best a vi!e is to /now yo"r s"pplier an !ons"lt yo"r health!are pro&essional. ="t4 on0t bother to as/ Dr. +anny. (t least4 not "ntil he0s one his resear!h. %% 50 %%