In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 2.5 million e-cigarette users, also known as “vapers.” Additionally, the e-cig industry brings in about 2.5 billion dollars per year- up from exactly nothing 8 years ago, as the industry did not exist yet. As disposable electronic cigarettes have become main-stream, they have also become the center of a tense debate on their actual health benefits and effects. As with all debates, misinformation and twisted statistics abound. Here are some myths about vaping, debunked:
Myths about Vaping
Myth: Electronic cigarettes are marketed to be appealing to kids with vaping flavors for sale including fruit, bubblegum, and candy. The claim is that this and colorful packaging will cause minors to be attracted to smoking.
Fact: The target market for e-cigs is people who are already addicted to tobacco and want to quit. The tobacco industry already creates enough minors hooked on nicotine that e-cigs have guaranteed customers for years to come. As such, e-cig companies do not sell to minors, and in many states this is already illegal. Plus, many vapers (75%) do not prefer vaping flavors for sale that taste like tobacco, opting for the fruit flavors instead.
Myth: E-cigs contain anti-freeze.
Fact: The main ingredient in e-cigs is either vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, or a mix of the two. This myth comes from two factors: first, propylene glycol (which is approved for human consumption by the FDA) is occasionally used in anti-freeze. However, the reason for this is that it makes it less dangerous in the case it is accidentally ingested. Second, the FDA released a study claiming they found “trace amounts” of diethylene glycol, the main ingredient in antifreeze, in e-cigs they had tested. The problem with this fact supporting the myth is that the study only tested 18 e-cigs from 2 brands, and the scientific definition of a “trace amount” is an amount that is too small to be accurately measured.
