Is the electronic cigarette as harmful as the traditional one?
That seems to come from the results reported by a study published in the portal "Environmental Science & Technology", which states that, "The aerosols generated with vaporizers contained up to 31 compounds, including nicotine, nicotyrine, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glycidol , acrolein, acetol, and diacetyl. Glicidol which is a probable carcinogen not previously identified in the vapor, and acrolein which is a potent irritant. "
Of course, the information has been collected and reproduced irresponsibly by various virtual and printed media, where the veracity of the report and the published results are taken for granted and no type of analysis is made about them and the way in which that have been obtained.
What does the report say, is it true what it says?
Beyond what is stated in the first paragraph of this article, the report explains the reason why the harmful compounds are produced: "These findings suggest that byproducts of thermal degradation are formed during the generation of steam. Glicidol and acrolein are produced mainly by glycerin degradation. Acetol and 2-propen-1-ol were produced mostly from PG, while other compounds (eg, formaldehyde) originated from both. Although the components used for the study are the same as the liquids of electronic cigarettes, no liquids were used directly, so they assume that the liquids of electronic cigarettes would obtain the same results.
As we will explain later, in a normal use of electronic cigarette liquids, with normal sprayers and with a rational use, the results of the study are biased and erroneous, so that the liquids of the electronic cigarettes DO NOT produce carcinogenic derivatives with their use in electronic cigarette atomizers.
See also: Is the Electronic Cigarette carcinogenic?
How was the study carried out?
More than checking the existence or absence of harmful substances in the steam produced by electronic cigarettes, the aim of the study seems to be to discover forms, mechanisms and devices that, as a whole, in a forced and extreme way, produce harmful substances for the human health, using electronic cigarettes.
And to achieve that goal, the participants in the study, submitted the components of the e-liquid to extremely high temperatures that under normal circumstances and with the current atomizers of the market, it is not possible to achieve. Apparently, and according to the study data, components of electronic cigarettes mixed (the worst components of the market) have been used to collect the alarming results they were looking for. That is, they have used old batteries with old atomizers and mixed them, regardless of whether they were designed to be used together.
Finally, and to finish exposing the un methodical, and not at all scientific way with which the experiment was carried out, let us talk about the "puffs" that a machine made. Each "puff" had a duration of more than 5 seconds, continuously, without stopping and without letting the atomizer rest, something that is not part of what is meant by normal use, nor what the average vapeador needs to vape normally.
Is the study conclusive?
No way. On the contrary, due to the reasons that we have exposed, the results of the report only serve to verify that, the subjection of two components of the liquid for vaping - Glycerin and Propylene Glycol - at very high temperatures (temperatures that do not occur while vaping) , with devices of poor quality, predisposed for this to happen and in exceptional circumstances that can hardly be reproduced in reality, propitiates the appearance of 31 toxic chemical compounds.
Why are we not exposed to these chemical compounds when vaping?
Because when vaping, the liquid will never reach, nor will it approach the very high temperatures to which it was subjected in the experiment. Consider two things: The first is that, both glycerin and propylene glycol are suitable substances for human consumption, which in fact, are used in various processes of the food industry. And the second is that, in the event that the device raised the temperature of the liquid, up to the levels proposed in the study, we would not spend a first puff, since the steam would cause serious lesions in the mouth and throat, due to at high temperature.
Because we use devices equipped with batteries, claromizers, coils and chargers suitable and compatible with each other, to avoid malfunction of the device as a whole. In some previous entry, we have referred to the dangers that we are exposed to by not adequately maintaining our