What are the safety and health effects of e-cigarettes?

Many people have moved from paper cigarettes to e-cigarettes in order to reduce or quit smoking. So what exactly are the effects of vapor from heated cigarettes and vapes on the human body?

Safety of heated cigarettes

Although the vapor from heated cigarettes contains nicotine, experiments have shown that the amount of tar and other harmful substances is reduced by 90-99% compared to cigarettes. However, all of these experiments were conducted by the research institutes of the companies that developed these cigarettes, and some of these institutes dispute these reports.

In fact, although detailed experimental methods have not been disclosed, verification conducted by a third-party organization in Switzerland showed that the results were significantly different from the toxic substance reduction figures announced by each manufacturer. There are also reports that the amount of nicotine contained in the smoke of heated cigarettes and paper cigarettes was almost the same. At the same time, it was reported that carcinogenic and toxic substances such as formaldehyde are also present, although they are reduced to a fraction of their original amount.

Furthermore, an analysis of the invisible mist called aerosol, which contains trace amounts of toxic substances, was also submitted, showing that heated cigarettes do not produce secondhand smoke. And, for insurance coverage, the use of nicotine-containing heated cigarettes is treated as the equivalent of smoking paper cigarettes.

Heated cigarettes are a new style of smoking, and it will take several years to conduct research on their harmful effects, so there are still many uncertainties as of 2021. The safety of vape is guaranteed by the authoritative scientific journal "Nature" and the UK Department of Health.

Vape safety

In Japan, the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law prohibits the sale of nicotine salt-containing liquids, so vape liquids distributed in Japan do not contain nicotine. Therefore, the risk of ED and other problems caused by nicotine can be avoided by using a vape. In addition, according to a report by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's "Expert Committee on the Evaluation of the Health Effects of Tobacco," carcinogenic substances such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde have been detected in trace amounts in some liquids.

Furthermore, some of the vape liquids on the market may contain inferior products made in foreign countries, so you need to be very careful when purchasing them. In order to use vape with peace of mind, it is important to purchase products that have been tested for safety by an inspection agency and have passed the established standards.

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