Cigarette
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In this article we examine the claim that cigarettes are safer than electronic cigarettes, looking at both ingredients and relevant studies.
Although we will be pointing out that cigarettes are dangerous, we are not anti-smokers. We believe that smokers have the right to choose to smoke cigarettes even if they are harmful, just as people have the right to drink alcohol, eat chocolate and enjoy dangerous sports.
Cigarettes are Safer than Electronic Cigarettes?
That's been both the indirect and direct claim of a number of anti-smoking organisations and individuals. When considering these allegations it is worth remembering how extreme some of these organisations are.
For example, ASH in the States has recently claimed that third hand smoke (meeting people who are smokers but who are not smoking, or visiting places where smokers have been) is as bad as actively inhaling smoke from a cigarette, while others have claimed that showing a person smoking in a film is as bad as poisoning the water supply.
Pick Up that Fag!
A few examples!
i. "In many ways, they may be more dangerous than traditional cigarettes because of their lack of oversight or any conclusive studies into their health effects.”
Sen. Bob Gordon
This claim was made by a Senator while banning the use of the electronic cigarette despite zero evidence of passive smoking. This senator also claimed that electronic cigarettes were an attempt by the tobacco industry to reinvent itself, despite the zero involvement to date of the tobacco industry in electronic cigarettes.
ii. "... there is no evidence that they are safer, and because they are not regulated by the FDA, some are clearly much more dangerous. The FDA has studied a sample of these products and is now warning the public about their risks of toxic chemicals. For example, some samples contained chemicals that cause cancer or that are otherwise toxic, such as an ingredient used in antifreeze." National Research for Woman and Families
The ingredient used in anti-freeze is propylene glycol, which is also used in make-up, medicine and food. Simply because an ingredient is used in something that could cause harm does not make that ingredient harmful - water is also used in anti-freeze, but that does not mean water is dangerous.
iii. "Upon testing it [the electronic cigarette] was found that the “e-cigarette” harms human health far more than the normal cigarette and it contains 40 times as much nicotine as a regular cigarette." The Peninsula
Rather than twisting facts, the Peninsula decided to just make them up. This allegation bore zero relation to truth. You can see our detailed response here.
Now for some Facts
Cigarette Ingredients
Cigarettes contain thousands of chemicals as well as over over 20 carcinogens that are known to cause lung cancer in animals. (Tobacco Smoke Carcinogens and Lung Cancer: Oxford Journals). Among the chemicals contained are Arsenic, Formaldehyde, Ammonia, Acetone, Hydrogen Cyanide and Carbon Monoxide.
E-Cigarette Ingredients
In contrast, the main ingredient in the electronic cigarette is Propylene Glycol. Here is what Murray Laugeson of Health New Zealand had to say about it after carrying out an analysis of its vapour:
"Using micro-electronics it vaporizes, separately for each puff, very small quantities of nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol, two small well-known molecules with excellent safety profiles, – into a fine aerosol."
Source: New Zealand E Cigarette Report
Click here to see the full ingredients of the electronic cigarette.
Cigarette and Electronic Cigarette Toxins
"Marlboro has 1400 times higher the level of tobacco-specific nitrosamines than an electronic cigarette cartridge."
Professor Michael Siegel
The FDA study found four tobacco specific nitrosamines at levels hundreds of times lower than in Marlborough cigarettes. In a detailed analysis, Professor Michael Siegel found that: "On a weight-for-weight basis, Marlboro has 1400 times higher the level of tobacco-specific nitrosamines than an electronic cigarette cartridge." Source: Tobacco Analysis Blog
However, the FDA tests were based on the ingredients in electronic cigarettes, not on the vapour. Our own electronic cigarettes were tested in an independent lab study and were found to contain one tobacco specific nitrosamine which was not toxic. In other words, the NJOY e-cigarette at least is one hundred percent toxin free. (Source: NJOY Analysis Report (PDF))
Usage
To be fair, British Tobacco claims that these ingredients are very small and that the main ingredient is simply tobacco.
Regardless of the ingredients in cigarettes, the main problem is the danger of combustion. Indeed, when one tobacco company decided to develop a safer cigarette they developed tobacco pellets which would be heated instead of burnt.
The TobaccoHarmReduction.org project points out that it doesn't really matter what you smoke. Smoking any plant material is bad for your health. In comparison, electronic cigarettes do not burn anything. Instead, smokers inhale a water vapour which contains nicotine.
Research
Cigarette Reseach
As tobacco users switched from other forms of tobacco to cigarette in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries lung cancer cases increased. Although the link between lung cancer and cigarettes was established by the Nazis, it was not accepted in the UK until a study by Richarl Doll and Austin Bradford Hill found proof of the connection after studying 40,000 smoking and non-smoking doctors.
Richard Doll gave up smoking during the course of the study.
Numerous other studies eventually corroborated the findings, and even the tobacco industry admitted their products were harmful - first in private, and then eventually in public.
E Cigarette Research
We know of no e-cigarette research that proves any harm is caused by electronic cigarettes.
Research in New Zealand has shown that the ingredients are safe, while our own research, conducted in conjunction with the tobacco harm reduction institute, has shown that the majority of e-cigarette users feel at least short term health benefits after switching to the electronic cigarettes.
FDA research, as mentioned above, has proved that there are far fewer toxins in the electronic cigarette, while independent lab analysis found zero toxins in the NJOY e-cigarette. There are many cheap brand being manufactured in China which haven't been tested, and there can be no guarantees regarding the safety of these brands.
For more information see our page on electronic cigarette research.
UK Government Position
While we disagree with the MHRA's position that the electronic cigarette should be regulated as a medicine, the body has acknowledged that the electronic cigarette can save lives. They also estimate that it can save money through increased cost care, although this position fails to take into account other factors such as lost taxes and the increased pension costs of people living longer. See the Electronic Cigarette Can Save Lives and Money for more information.
Expert Opinion
Over time, we have interviewed many of the leading researchers in tobacco harm reduction. Here iare some of their comments:
Professor Carl Phillips: "I think there's absolutely no doubt that it is a safer alternative to regular cigarettes."
David Sweanor, former advisor to the WHO on tobacco: "If there is anyone who believes cigarettes are no more hazardous than e-cigarettes I’d recommend a remedial course in basic sciences."
"...we have every reason to believe that the hazard posed by e-cigarettes would be much lower than one percent of the hazard posed by cigarettes."
The Real Reason Behind Opposition to the Electronic Cigarette...
Anti-smoking groups want a nicotine free world. When there are safe delivery systems of nicotine, which is not in itself particularly harmful, that vision is at risk. That's why these people want to deny you an alternative to the product that kills hundreds of thousands of smokers every year.