There’s a pretty good article in the Baltimore Sun today regarding second hand vapor. The piece starts off with the line “People standing near someone using an e-cigarette will be exposed to nicotine, but not to other chemicals found in tobacco cigarette smoke, according to a new study.” Any media report that actually recognizes the difference between smoke and vapor is a good one in my book.
Much of the article discusses a study performed by Maciej Goniewicz that was initially reported in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. The study found that electronic cigarette use exposed bystanders in a closed room to only a fraction of the nicotine that would be present in cigarette smoke and nearly none of the other chemicals. “The exposure to nicotine is lower when compared to exposure from tobacco smoke. And we also know that nicotine is relatively safer when compared to other dangerous toxicants in tobacco smoke,” Goniewicz said.
Amy Fairchild of the Columbia University School of Health is also quoted as saying “In locales considering extending smoking bans to e-cigarettes, I think that these data weaken the case for more sweeping bans. “And so this begins to answer the question about why e-cigarettes are considered better: they reduce risks to both the user and to the bystander when compared to tobacco cigarettes.”
These comments about the benefits of electronic cigarettes based on solid science, which should carry a lot more authority than the “looks like smoke” argument.
Categories: 