With revised vaping laws in place, vaping has hit the headlines once again. There is a spike of (mis)information about vaping, today. What people seek is an unbiased coverage on vaping. What people need are facts.

Fact #1 Vaping is different from smoking

Vaping is the process of inhaling vapor, not smoke, created by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or any other vaping device.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered smoking devices. The e-cigarette contains a cartridge filled with a liquid. The liquid, also known as e-liquid, e-fluid, e-juice, or vape juice, is heated into a vapor, which is then inhaled by the person.

This process of using e-cigarettes is referred to as vaping.

The e-liquid consists of four basic ingredients, water, nicotine, flavorings, and a propylene glycol (PG) or vegetable glycerin (VG) base (or sometimes a mixture of PG and VG).

Tobacco is burnt in the process of smoking, which releases more toxins. Nicotine (extracted from tobacco is heated to produce vapor in vaping.

Fact #2 The earliest electric vaporizer was designed in 1927

Although, the e-cigarette as we know it today, was invented by Chinese smoker and pharmacist

Hon Lik in 2003, Joseph Robinson is credited with designing the first-ever electric vaporizer in 1927.

Joseph Robinson’s design was followed by another design of a “smokeless non-tobacco cigarette” by Herbert Gilbert, in 1963. His design, however, could not find any manufacturers to develop the product.

After a few more failed designs, came Hon Lik’s e-cigarette. At one point, Lik was downing up to three packs of cigarettes a day. His father, also a smoker, died of lung cancer. Around the time of his father’s death, Lik was galvanized to invent a new device.

“I believed that if I could use vapor to simulate cigarette smoke, this could help me,” have been Lik’s famous words.

Fact #3 E-cigarettes have undergone a generational change

All e-cigarettes are composed of a battery, an atomizer, and a fluid reservoir, which stores the e-liquid

The working of an e-cigarette is a fairly simple one. First, the user draws air through the mouthpiece, which activates an airflow sensor, causing the filament in the atomizer to heat. Capillary action, created by a wick, causes the e-liquid to travel up the filament. The heated filament then vaporizes the e-fluid to produce a gas that condenses with water in the atmosphere to form an inhalable aerosol.

The characteristics of the aerosol are influenced by a number of factors, such as battery power level, topography, and one of the most important factors, atomizer design.

The designs of the battery and the atomizer have evolved with time towards higher consumer control.

First-generation e-cigarettes, or cig-a-likes, were designed to look like a conventional cigarette. They came with fixed, low-voltage batteries.
Second-generation e-cigarettes came with larger variable voltage batteries, referred to as pen-style batteries.

Mods, or third-generation e-cigarettes, came with truly modified batteries. These batteries allowed the consumer to vary the voltage, wattage, and power of the e-cigarette.

Fact #4 Studies have reported vaping to be at least 95% less harmful than smoking

The Royal College of Physicians, Canada, concluded in their recent report that vaping was 95% less harmful than tobacco.

The toxicological, clinical, and epidemiological evidence of the study indicated that the chemicals found in nicotine e-liquid vapor were well below the levels of chemicals present in cigarette smoke. It can be safely said that if toxicity were reduced by 95%, so would be the relative harm.

Furthermore, studies have also shown that, despite the presence of nicotine, vaping produces less dependence than does smoking. Data have also demonstrated that smokers who transitioned to vaping experienced improved lung function, less frequent asthma events, and various other physiological improvements.

In light of the revised vaping laws, facts and studies such as the one aforementioned are needed in abundance to clear the air around the misinformation floating as the negative impact of vaping.