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Ella Meeks

Tashelle Wright

Research Paper

19 November 2023

Effects of E-Cigarettes
Most of us know E-Cigarettes as “vaping,” which has been around for many years now

but started becoming more popular not only in adults but in our youth as well. In today’s world it

is a very common item in the average American household, if it is not the parent or adult in the

house using it, it is the children or in some cases both. E-Cigarettes come in a variety of different

shapes, colors, sizes, and even have different names. When it comes to the different looks of

them, “some e-cigarettes are made to look like regular cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Some resemble

pens, USB sticks, and regular everyday items. Larger devices such as tank systems, or “mods,”

do not resemble other tobacco products.”(Centers for Disease Control). There are many different

names as well. “They are sometimes called “e-cigs," "e-hookahs," "mods," "vape pens," "vapes,"

"tank systems,” and “electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).” (Centers for Disease

Control). E-cigarettes can also be used to deliver marijuana and other drugs into peoples systems.

Which then can later on cause many different effects to their bodies.

EFFECTS

There are many different effects that e-cigarettes can have on people's bodies and each person

can be affected differently. There are also more people who are at a higher risk after using e-

cigarettes. “E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, pregnant adults, as well as adults

who do not currently use tobacco products.”(Centers for Disease Control). Some effects of e-

cigarettes would be that most e-cigarettes contain nicotine which is very addictive, there are
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cancer causing chemicals, danger to pregnant mothers who are developing a baby, and can also

cause injuries. Researchers have found major effects that “vaping” has on young adolescent

users. “Significant lung disease (EVALI) has occurred in adolescents and not all cases are linked

to vitamin E acetate. Finally, extrapolating research on adults to adolescents raises the possibility

that e-cigarette use is linked to pre-symptomatic cardiovascular dysfunction and may have a

significant health impact during adulthood.”(Groner, Judith. June 2022). There are a lot of adults

who had previously smoked cigarettes at some point in their lives and have now converted to the

use of e-cigarettes because they are “safer” which in reality they are not safe. Yes, they might be

less harmful than regular cigarettes but at the end of the day that does not mean that e-cigarettes

are safer than regular cigarettes, they are equally as bad for you. “E-cigarette aerosol generally

contains fewer toxic chemicals than the deadly mix of 7,000 chemicals in smoke from regular

cigarettes.” (Centers of Disease Control). There are very harmful chemicals and substances that

are in e-cigarettes which can be nicotine, heavy metals such as lead, volatile organic compounds,

and also cancer causing agents. According to (Pisiner, Charlotta. December 2014) “Studies

found fine/ultrafine particles, harmful metals, carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines,

volatile organic compounds, carcinogenic carbonyls (some in high but most in low/trace

concentrations), cytotoxicity and changed gene expression.” A lot of the way that these e-

cigarettes are designed can potentially cause toxicity issues due to the different metals and

chemicals that are used to design these products and how they are operated.

Nicotine. Most, if not almost all e-cigarette that are produced have some form of nicotine in

them. Which means that more people than not are consuming nicotine each day. That in itself is

not healthy for me or anyone and their bodies, no matter the age, race/ethnicity, or gender.

Nicotine is a very highly addictive chemical which is found in all tobacco products. Nicotine in
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itself has a lot of negative health effects, some being that it is highly addictive, can be very toxic,

and can stunt development in multiple different ways. “Nicotine can harm adolescent and young

adult brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s.” (Centers of Disease

Control). While using e-cigarettes and inhaling all of the different chemicals and nicotine it

reaches deep down into peoples lungs which can later on cause lung cancer in some people.

When it comes to pregnant women “nicotine is a health danger for pregnant adults and their

developing babies.” (Center of Disease Control). While pregnant and consuming nicotine it can

cause some serious birth defects some being cleft lip, cleft palate, or even both in some cases. If

you are smoking while you are pregnant it can not only cause your baby to have birth defects

when they are born it can also cause you as a mother some more issues than you might think.

Some of those issues include heavy bleeding while you are going through your pregnancy and it

also can happen during your delivery. In that case it can not only put you in danger but can also

put your baby in some danger as well. There are also a lot of different injuries that I am sure

most people don’t think of while using this product.

Other Injuries. Not only can e-cigarettes cause extreme negative effects on people's bodies, it can

also cause some things that you might not have thought of. “Defective e-cigarette batteries have

caused fires and explosions, some of which have resulted in serious injuries. Most explosions

happened when the e-cigarette batteries were being charged.” (Centers of Disease Control). The

nicotine and chemicals that are found in the different forms of e-cigarettes have also been found

to have effects on people in other ways than just smoking them. There have been instances where

“children and adults have been poisoned by swallowing, breathing, or absorbing e-cigarette

liquid through their skin or eyes.” (Center of Disease Control). If this is the case I would
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definitely consider either just quit using e-cigarettes all together or at least keep not only the

“vape” itself out of reach of children but also the liquid of nicotine if yours is one you can refill.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I would have to say that overall everyone needs to stop smoking altogether

whether it is e-cigarettes or regular cigarettes. Neither one of them is good for you and neither

one of them is safer than the other. I do understand that once you start it is very hard to stop

because it is so addictive but at the end of the day nothing is impossible and you can do anything

that you put your mind to. If you genuinely really want to quit vaping and smoking you will quit,

of course it is not going to be easy but we can all do it. I along with many others recommend that

if you have not tried or have not started using any form of e-cigarette do not start now or ever

because you will want more and you will become highly addicted and you won’t know how to

quit. Just know that you are not alone and there are very many different approaches you can take

to stop your addiction, you just have to find what works for you.

Works Cited

Center of Disease Control, "About Electronic Cigarettes (E-cigarettes)."

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/about-e-cigarettes.html
Charlotte Pisinger, Martin Dossing, " A Systematic Review of Health Effect of Electronic
Cigarettes" Preventive Medicine, Volume 69, 2014, Pages 248-260, ISSN 0091-7435,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743514003739
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Judith Grover, "Health Effects of Electronic Cigarettes" Current Problems in Pediatric. and
Adolescent Health Care, Volume 52, Issue 6, June 2022,101202, ISSN 1538-5442,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1538544222000712