E-cigarettes

By: Chad Douros

E-cigarettes are evolving rapidly and being marketed just as normal cigarettes
were back in the 50s and 60s. E-cigarettes are becoming very popular due to the idea
that they are a healthy alternative to smoking. They are supposed to have less
chemicals then the traditional cigarette does.
The idea of electronic cigarettes began around 1927 by Joseph Robinson. He
filed a patent for the first Electronic Vaporizer and in 1930 his patent was approved by
the USPTO. Between 1965 and 2000 there were several more vaporizer patents that
followed but never really gained any popularity (Radcliffe, 2013). The reality of Ecigarettes began again in the early 2000s. A Chinese pharmacist by the name of Hon
Lik had a dream where he was drowning until the waters around him lifted into fog.
Three years later, Hon Liks father passed away from lung cancer. Hon Lik was worried
that he would experience the same fate because he was also a heavy cigarette smoker.
This motivated him to make his dream become a reality (Radcliffe,2013).
In 2004 the modern E-cigarette came into the market. In 2007 they became
available in the United States at a Tobacco Expo in Las Vegas. As of early 2015 the ecigarette industry has contributed to over $2.5 billion to the economy (Radcliffe, 2013).
The E-cigarette market has grown quickly and has started to really gain popularity with
young adults. The use of e-cigarettes tripled in a very short amount of time, from 2013
to 2014. In a research study done by the National Youth Tobacco Survey use was
shown among high school students to have increased from 4.5 percent, in 2013, to 13.4

percent in 2014. Rising from 660,000 students up to 2 million students. This data was
based on any student reporting use of an e-cigarette in the past 30 days. This trend was
becoming extremely popular and the availability of E-cigarettes was high (CDC, 2015).
This extremely fast growing trend among teens has become a gateway to
smoking Hookah. In 2013 hookah use in high school students went from 5.2 percent
(770,000) of students to 9.4 (about 1.3 million students) in 2014. Among middle school
students hookah use rose from 1.1 percent (120,000 students) in 2013 to 2.5 percent
(280,000) students in 2014 (Grana et al., 2013).
Use of multiple tobacco products is very common. A combination of e-cigarettes,
hookah, traditional cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, snus, and pipes is often used
by high school students. The director of the FDAs Center for Tobacco said;
In todays rapidly evolving tobacco marketplace, the surge in youth use of novel
products like e-cigarettes forces us to confront the reality that the progress we have
made in reducing youth cigarette smoking rates is being threatened(CDC, 2015).
Because of all of the marketing put towards E-cigarettes being a healthy
alternative with no cancer causing ingredients they have not only exploded amongst
the youth community but also with long time smokers. These long-time smokers are
trying to find a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes. E-cigarettes are promoted
with the idea that they can be smoked anywhere and are odorless. Those qualities are
making them very attractive to smokers. E-cigarettes are very readily available. You
can find them in almost every grocery store. They have them right in front of the

checkout at every gas station or convenience store. The amount of exposure that young
children and non-smokers are getting to e-cigarettes is outstanding.
Studies are becoming extremely popular as far as the research into e-cigarettes
because there are so many unknown factors about the effects of what these really do to
your body and lungs. However, not enough time has passed to gain proper data. A
study was conducted in 2012 examining pulmonary function after acute puffing of an ecigarette (11mg/ml of nicotine) and all of the participants were healthy cigarette
smokers. All participants were asked to use the same e-cigarette device as desired for
five minutes and were required not to smoke 4 hours prior to the test. On another day,
10 participants selected at random from the 30 total were asked to smoke an e-cigarette
device with the cartridge removed. The studies showed that there was no effect on the
cartridge less devices but the normal e-cigarettes showed acute increases in airway
resistance (Grana et al., 2013). Other studies similar to this have raised a lot of concern
that more prolonged e-cigarette use could have greater effects in people with reactive
airways disease, such as asthma. Studies suggest that e-cigarette use constricts lung
peripheral airways, and they believe its possible the irritant effects of smoking
propylene glycol (Grana et al., 2013).
Researchers reported a case of a serious adverse reaction that was deemed due
to the use of e-cigarettes. A 42 year old women reported having feverish symptoms and
also a productive cough that lasted for seven months. The patient was found to have
exogenous lipoid pneumonia which is a disease caused by the deposition of oil in lung
tissue. These symptoms began when she started the use of e-cigarettes. Because there
was no other exposure or behavior that could explain her symptoms and because the

resolved after she stopped using e-cigarettes, the patient was diagnosed with
exogenous lipoid pneumonia due to e-cigarette use (Grana et al., 2013).
Recent studies have now shown that a flavoring chemical called Diacetyl that
was found in more than 75 percent of flavored electronic cigarettes and the refills tested
at Harvard T.H. Chan Schools of Public Health. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health
Administration) and the flavoring industry warned workers about Diacetyl because it,
and a few other flavoring chemicals, can cause a severe respiratory disease commonly
known as Popcorn Lung. (Roeder, 2015)
Currently there are more than 7,000 varieties of flavored electronic cigarettes and
e-juice on the market. Even though the popularity continues to climb, there is still a lot of
lacking data of the potential health effects of electronic cigarettes (Roeder, 2015). It is
frightening because there are so many brands available now of e-cigarettes. The
number of companies that mix and produce their own blends is alarming because you
have no idea of the ratios they are using of these chemicals or the environment that
they are created in.
Smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion each
year. That includes $170 billion for direct care for adults and more than $156 billion in
lost productivity. This also includes $5.6 billion in lost productivity due to secondhand
smoke exposure (CDC, 2015). Even though these e-cigarettes are viewed by most as
the healthy alternative to smoking, the nicotine that is available in most of the e-liquids
that are sold is the driving factor to keep people coming back and wanting more.

In conclusion, while only a few studies have looked into the effects overall of
vaping there is a great deal of research that still needs to be done. Only time will tell
what the true cost of e-cigarettes will be on societys health. Until more data is released
regarding the health risk associated with e-cigarettes use will continue and most likely
grow.

References
CDC Economic Facts About U.S. Tobacco Production and UseCenters for Disease
and Control Prevention[Online]18 August
2015http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts
/
Grana Rachel, Benowitz Neal, Glantz Stanton A Background Paper on Ecigarettes[Online][Cited: 1 12
2013]http://arizonansconcernedaboutsmoking.com/
Radcliffe AlexThe Real History of Electronic Cigarettes[Online][Cited: 17 10
2013]http://www.v2cigs.com/blog/2013/10/the-real-history-of-electroniccigarettes/
Roeder AmyChemical flavorings found in e-cigarettes linked to lung disease
[Online][Cited: 8 12 2015]http://news.harvard.edu/gazette