smoking is bad for you and everyone aroundyou. so if vaping is less bad for you, is it also less bad for everyone around you? hi everyone, julian here for dnews from youtubespace la! let’s kick this off by saying the obvious: cigarettes are bad for you. thenicotine in them is highly addictive and causes increased blood pressure, higher cholesterol,and heart disease. cigarettes yellow your teeth and nails, cause premature wrinkling,and the american cancer society estimates about half of people who start smoking andnever quit will die of cancer. but, if despite knowing all this you still choose to smoke,it’s your decision and you know the risks. the problem really arises for people aroundyou who choose not to smoke, and yet they’re
going to suffer a lot of the same effectsif they breathe in your smoke regularly. yes, even the cancer part, unless you don’t believethe epa, the u.s. national toxicology program, the surgeon general, and the internationalagency for research on cancer. children who are exposed to secondhand smoke have a higherinstance of respiratory infections, asthma, sudden infant death syndrome, and nicotinenegatively affects the prefrontal cortex of developing brains. while the standalone effectsof nicotine as a carcinogen have not been investigated thoroughly, researchers fromthe virginia bioinformatics institute have found exposure to it causes dna mutationswhich can increase cancer risk over time. on top of that many people don’t like thesmell of cigarette smoke, cigarette butts
are the most common piece of litter, and dealingwith people who have gone too long without their nicotine fix is just terrible. enter the e-cigarette. the idea is you doaway with tobacco and instead have extracted nicotine in water. a heating element vaporizesthe water, that carries the nicotine into your lungs and you exhale water vapor that’sharmless to the people around you. at least that’s what the advertisements say, butwhat does the science say? short answer: it’s less bad but still notgreat. yes, it’s true, without the tobacco and tar, the vapor you exhale has a tenththe carcinogens as normal cigarette smoke so second hand vapor indoors from one e-cigaretteis considered no significant risk, while a
regular cigarette is. still the vapor canhave a negative effect on your immune system. mice exposed to e-cigarette vapor were moresusceptible to bacterial and viral infections because of free radicals in the smoke thatdamaged cell dna. there’s a new problem e-cigs have too: becauseyou’re heating a metal tube, the vapor can carry heavy metals. some of them, like leador zinc, are in lower levels than you find in normal tobacco smoke. but one heavy metalin the vapor that’s not found in cigarettes is chromium. chromium comes in a couple differentforms based on how easily it bonds with other elements, trivalent chromium [cr (iii)] andhexavalent chromium [cr (vi)]. trivalent chromium isn’t absorbed well by the body so it’spretty harmless, but hexavalent chromium is
a different story. chronic inhalation cancause lung scarring and lung cancer. the thing is, both these forms of chromium are usedto keep metals from corroding, it’s where we get the term “chrome†from. so eitherof them might be used in manufacturing e-cigarettes. the usc study doesn’t specify which theyfound because it’s difficult to differentiate in tests. and with so many makes and modelsof e-cigarettes and very little regulation, it’s impossible to know which maker is usingwhich form of chromium. but let’s assume that regulations and manufacturingstandards can eliminate hexavalent chromium from the vapor. there’s still the nicotine.that’s what this is all about right? that sweet nicotine fix? e-cig smokers can choosedifferent cartridges with a range of nicotine
levels from none to pretty high. the nicotinewill still cause a wealth of cardiovascular problems so that aspect is no better thanregular cigarettes. how much of that nicotine is in second hand vapor? according to oxforduniversity, about a tenth as much that’s in tobacco smoke. it’s still present andso the oxford researchers warn to hold off on vaping near children, pregnant women, orpeople with cardiovascular conditions until more studies are done. so as of right now, for the most part, itlooks like second hand vapor poses a significantly lower health risk than tobacco smoke. butremember, it took decades of observation and study to realize the effects of passive tobaccosmoke inhalation. e-cigarettes have only been
on the market since 2007, and to really knowwhat we’re getting into we need to be able to see the effects of the vapor over a person’slifetime. that’s right, say it with me, more research is needed. e-cigarette smoke is apparently a lot lessbad, nice, myth confirmed. we can’t say as much for hookah smoke though. for the detailson smoking hookah and why it’s really really really bad for you, check out trace’s videodown here. so, knowing what you now know, would you becomfortable with someone vaping in the room with you? or if you use e-cigs yourself, wouldyou respect someone asking you to vape outside? let us know in the comments! oh and sidebar,if you’re under 18, don’t smoke. even
if you can buy e-cigs legally, that nicotinehooks you easier and is still bad for your developing brain. plus they don’t even lookcool, they’re like a weird light-up version of those little recorders they made you playhot crossed buns on in 3rd grade, it’s not a good look. ok, i’ll see you next timeon dnews!