What are the harms of e-cigarettes? See what experts say

What are the harms of e-cigarettes? As people often say, everything has some downside. Some things may seem good on their own or in a specific context, but excessive or inappropriate use can still have a certain impact on the body. As long as you smoke, there is some harm involved, so the question is not whether e-cigarettes are completely harmless. Let’s go over the details below.

What are the harms of e-cigarettes?

For example, the main ingredients in e-cigarettes are: ① propylene glycol (PG), ② glycerin (VG), ③ flavorings, and ④ nicotine.

Viewed individually, the first three substances are commonly used food additives. In appropriate amounts, additives can improve the taste and flavor of food, and the same principle applies in e-cigarettes, where these components can be proportioned to adjust the throat hit and create different flavors. Nicotine, however, has a certain potential for dependence and addiction, and excessive use may irritate the respiratory tract mucosa, leading to inflammation and a series of related problems.

In addition, because e-cigarettes became popular relatively late, research on them is still not comprehensive enough. Most studies have mainly focused on e-liquid and the vapor produced through atomization. Even the 700-plus-page report released by Public Health England in 2015 mainly centered on research into these substances. At present, there are still relatively few studies on heating coils, making it difficult to form scientific and highly referenceable conclusions.

Therefore, for people who are not smokers or not e-cigarette users, using them may still cause a certain degree of harm.

For traditional smokers, however, the ingredients in e-cigarettes are relatively simple and do not include strongly carcinogenic substances associated with traditional tobacco, such as tar and benzene compounds. For this group, e-cigarettes may be a less harmful alternative, so the degree of harm varies from person to person.