If You Think E-Cigarettes Aren’t Bad For You, Think Again

#1 Not The Safe Alternative To Smoking

Once tuted as a safe alternative to cigarettes, study's are showing a different view on vaping and e-cigarettes. Ever since e-cigarettes came onto the market in 2004, researchers have wondered and debated whether these devices might contain chemicals that lead to lung diseases or cancer.

A recently released study shows that e-cigarettes billed as a safer alternative to traditional tobacco products could be linked to a disease that results in severe lung damage.

#2 What The E-Cig Really Is

E-cigarettes don't contain tobacco. Instead, they contain liquid nicotine (sometimes with flavoring). Conventional cigarettes, on the other hand, contain tobacco and all the additives tobacco companies include to make the product taste or feel a certain way.

Another key difference is that tobacco is burned and inhaled as smoke, while e-cigarettes just heat up liquid nicotine to turn it into an odorless vapor. It's this heated vapor that is causing a lot of trouble.

#3 Vaping Shown To Cause Popcorn Lung

New research from the Harvard School of Public Health suggests that the flavorings in some types of e-cigarettes contain chemicals that have been linked to a rare disease. According to the study, 75 percent of flavored e-cigarettes and their refill liquids were found to contain Diacetyl, "a flavoring chemical linked to cases of severe respiratory disease" such as the incurable condition called "Popcorn Lung."

According to Harvard, the condition otherwise known as bronchiolitis obliterans was "colloquially termed "Popcorn Lung" because it first appeared in workers who inhaled artificial butter flavor in microwave popcorn processing facilities."

#4 Popcorn Lung Is A Non Reversible Chronic Disease

But despite the name of the disease, there is absolutely nothing savory about it. Popcorn Lung is a debilitating and irreversible respiratory disease which causes "scarring in tiny air sacs in the lungs that lead to excessive coughing and shortness of breath" similar to that seen in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

#5 Three Deadly Toxins Found In E-Cig Vapors

In analyzing 51 different flavored e-cigarettes, author of the study Joseph Allen and his team found at least one of three top toxins diacetyl, acetoin and 2,3-pentanedione in 47 of the e-cigs. Not only that, "the amount of diacetyl in 39 of the e-cigs exceeded the amount that was able to be detected by the laboratory."

"Diacetyl and other related flavoring chemicals are used in many other flavors beyond butter-flavored popcorn, including fruit flavors, alcohol flavors, and candy flavored e-cigarettes," said Allen, assistant professor of exposure assessment science at Harvard.

#6 Young People Are Attracted To The Savory Flavoring, Which Contains Diacetyl

He found this particularly disturbing because of the appeal fruity e-cigarettes such as "Cotton Candy, Fruit Squirts, and Cupcake" may have to young people. All of these appealing flavors contain diacetyl. Both vaping oils and the e-cigs contain above normal amounts of the chemical, mainly in those flavored.

E-cigarettes have become increasingly popular in recent years. In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the use of e-cigarette devices among middle school and high school students tripled between 2013 and 2014. That means about 13 percent of students now use them outstripping the number who smoke conventional cigarettes.

#7 There Are Many Dangers In Vaping And Many Unknowns

Since e-cigarettes and 'vaping' are a fairly new technology, the study's co-author David Christiani, Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics, warns that Popcorn Lung may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the dangers e-cigs pose to their users.

The American Heart Association, suggests e-cigarette vapor contaminates the air with nicotine and toxins, but the long-term health effects of exposure to these secondhand chemicals remain unknown. The study also showed that the cigarette devices, being electrical, can explode, and have been known to do so in several cases in the last year alone.

#8 Urgent Action Is Required On The Effects Of E-Cig Vapor Exposure

E-cigarettes are currently not regulated by the FDA, and there's a lot we still don't understand about the health effects of regular use. Most researchers believe that vaping is probably better for you than smoking conventional cigarettes. But that still leaves a lot of questions like what the risk of popcorn lung might be.

At last count, there were about 500 e-cigarette brands and more than 7,000 flavors available, and they work in different ways, delivering varying amounts of nicotine, toxins, and carcinogens. This means it's often hard to generalize from individual studies.

As the researchers on the new study put it, "Due to the associations between diacetyl, bronchiolitis obliterans and other severe respiratory diseases among workers inhaling heated vapors containing diacetyl, urgent action is recommended to further evaluate the extent of this new exposure to diacetyl and related flavoring compounds in e-cigarettes."