Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by humbledrone 4531 days ago
> That's a shame. The "smoke" from e-cigarettes is just vapour

Saying "just vapor" means nothing here; consider "just chlorine vapor," for instance. Obviously the substance that has been vaporized is the important part. The most common e-cigarette vapor, propylene glycol, does have very low toxicity. But you still might not want to inhale it constantly -- no longitudinal, long-term study has been performed that simulates the e-cigarette use of PG and shows beyond doubt that it is safe.

> and no more harmful to the people around the user than steam from a kettle.

Nicotine is a known carcinogen, and e-cigarette vapor contains nicotine. Tea kettles do not release vaporized nicotine. The e-cigarette vapor may have a low concentration of nicotine after being exhaled, but again, nobody has extensively studied the results of breathing second-hand e-cigarette vapor over a long time period. Your assertion is completely unsupported by evidence.

> I'm harming nobody but myself with it.

You cannot back that up with evidence. This is your guess, and it could be wrong.

Now, I happen to think that it is _likely_ that e-cigarettes will be shown to be much less dangerous than tobacco cigarettes. But my opinion, just like yours, is meaningless since it's not backed up by evidence.

3 comments

> Nicotine is a known carcinogen

Is it? All I can find is that it promotes tumor growth if the tumor is already there but doesn't cause them by itself.

>> I'm harming nobody but myself with it. >You cannot back that up with evidence. This is your guess, and it could be wrong.

Clearstream [1] was done and at least one other study (can't remember the name atm). Nothing completely conclusive but at least it points towards it being rather safe.

[1] http://clearstream.flavourart.it/site/?p=1014&lang=en

> Is it?

I may have been too conclusive there; the CDC only says:

"Nicotine is a teratogen (capable of causing birth defects). Other developmental toxicity or reproductive toxicity risks are unknown. The information about nicotine as a carcinogen is inconclusive"

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ershdb/emergencyresponsecard_297500...

Yeah, I wouldn't say that Nicotine is not a toxic/dangerous substance, it certainly is :)
> All I can find is that it promotes tumor growth if the tumor is already there but doesn't cause them by itself.

What's the carcinogen in chewing tobacco?

Also, the idea "it's only harmful if cancer is already present" can be weak; consider prostate cancer, which is present in all men.

Not to forget that you don't always know you have cancer. So you might cut into your time where it's still easily treatable.
Aside from the nicotine, typical e-cigarette vapour is basically the same as the fog produced by a really common kind of fog machine.
I wonder if anyone has studied the health outcomes of nicotine-only users eg: patches, or gum?