One thing that is known about electronic cigarettes: they’ve become a serious business in the United States.
Although e-cigarettes represent only a tiny percentage of the U.S. tobacco market, the industry is growing.
The number of people currently “vaping” has increased substantially over the last few years, with sales of nearly $2 billion in 2013.
Some analysts predict that this could grow to $10 billion by 2017 and eventually overtake sales of conventional cigarettes. It’s worth noting that the industry is maturing without much in the way of oversight or regulation.
We also know how e-cigarettes work—mechanically speaking. Using a battery-powered heating element, they convert liquid nicotine (sometimes flavored with food additives) into a vapor that users then inhale or “vape.”
This unique system delivers nicotine without the cancer-causing and other harmful elements associated with burning tobacco.
Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of the certainty ends. Currently, evidence for the safety, harmfulness, utility, and addictiveness of e-cigarettes is lacking.
The questions that research needs to answer, however, are clear as day—particularly since business is booming.
Are E-Cigarettes Bad for You?
Some of the food additives that flavor e-cigarette vapor may be dangerous when inhaled; the long-term health effects of inhaling the vapor are unknown. And of course, e-cigarettes still deliver nicotine, the main addictive ingredient in cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Nicotine from e-cigarettes could have detrimental effects on cardiovascular health and may impair breathing among those with already compromised lung functioning.
