Electronic cigarettes are becoming more and more popular with each passing day. There are numerous reasons behind the growing popularity and appeal of electronic cigarettes – more an more celebrities are getting seen using them in public, and the are starting to appear in mainstream media on fairly regular bases these days. An electronic cigarette looks and feels much like a traditional, tobacco cigarette – but is very much different from it. The electronic cigarette is actually a battery operated device which works a lot like a humidifier. It relies on a heat producing element – the atomizer – to vaporize a liquid solution contained inside the cigarette. When turned to vapor, the liquid solution is inhaled by the user of the electronic cigarette, much like regular tobacco smoke would be from a cigarette. Knowing this, the next question on your mind probably is – what exactly is in the vapor?
In short, electronic cigarette vapor is a mist based on propylene glycol. Propylene glycol is a glycerin based solution that’s easily convertible in a smoke-like vapor once it’s heated, which helps the electronic cigarette to recreate much of that special “smoking experience” – without any actual smoke or tobacco involved. This way, the vapor produced by the electronic cigarette delivers all the nicotine the smoker needs, without any of the harmful chemicals that tobacco smoke is so full off. The glycerin solution itself is odorless and tasteless, and the flavors are provided by special cartridges. This means that electronic cigarette can have a range of flavors – including traditional tobacco taste, menthol, or more exotic, fruity tastes.
Some people might be concerned and wonder if the glycerin solution from the electronic cigarette is dangerous to the users health, and if it leaves some sort of residue in the lungs. While the technology behind the electronic cigarette is fairly new, and no long term research addressing the health effects of using an electronic cigarette versus smoking traditional, tobacco cigarettes has been done, it’s safe to say that it’s a much safer alternative to tobacco. Tobacco smoke contains literary hundreds of toxins, carcinogens and other poisonous chemicals, including carbon monoxide and formaldehyde – none of which are present in the electronic cigarette.
At the first glance, you could hardly see any difference between a tobacco cigarette and an electronic cigarette. However, when you get close enough to actually smell it, you will know which is which. Electronic cigarettes leave no unpleasant residual smell, and there are no ashes, yellow fingers and cigarette burns to give the smoker’s habit away. This makes electronic cigarettes a great alternative to regular, traditional tobacco based cigarettes, especially for smokers who share living or working space with non smokers. Parents who smoke no longer have to worry about the damage second hand smoke is doing to their children – electronic cigarettes can put their mind at ease, knowing that the vapor is harmless.