E-cigarettes contain carcinogens and toxins after all, FDA warns
By Ross Miller 
posted Jul 23rd 2009 6:49PM
posted Jul 23rd 2009 6:49PM
[Via Switched; thanks, flatlander85]
posted Jul 23rd 2009 6:49PM
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Doesn't surprise me...
Maybe now the nutjobs who think every electronic device is gonna give us cancer will focus on this and shut up.
"Diethylene glycol should not be confused with the related compound, ethylene glycol, which is the most common glycol used in coolants."
"Ethylene glycol is an organic compound widely used as an automotive antifreeze and a precursor to polymers."
Antifreeze ingredients? They're everywhere! Just the other day I found out my body contained dangerously high levels of Dihydrogen Oxide. Fortunately there's a quick cure for that...
@maball54:
Good catch. It's a bit disheartening that the statement was made by the FDA of all people, who you'd hope could get their facts straight. The oversight isn't going to change their conclusion, but it's an oversight nonetheless.
Wait, I'm a bit confused. After reading further:
"Like ethylene glycol, a solution of diethylene glycol and water is used as a coolant. It slightly lowers the freezing point of the solution and significantly elevates its boiling point, making it more suitable for use in hot climates. It can be also found in some hydraulic fluids including brake fluids."
So it sounds like they're both antifreezes.
Yeah i think you're right. Either way they're probably both not good for the body.
"Just the other day I found out my body contained dangerously high levels of Dihydrogen Oxide. Fortunately there's a quick cure for that..."
Quick "cure"? All I can think of is dehydration... not exactly speedy.
Wait a minute... your name (Ian) is relatively close to the word Ion... as in free Ions. Ahhh, that's the cure! Electrolytes!
i think he meant , the cure was to take a piss.
Lars, let me break this one down for you. Di is a prefix meaning two. Hydrogen of course is hydrogen. The oxide just means one oxygen. Two hydrogens and one oxygen, why does that seem familiar?
*SPOILER ALERT*h2o, aka water*END SPOILER ALERT*
That 'anti-freeze' stuff is also used in toothpaste, and deodorants, and printing ink.
And when used as anti-freeze it's mixed with water, so the next headline can be "component of anti-freeze found running out of taps in home" or "americans take showers in components of anti-freeze"
Oh and apparently it's also used to make wine taste sweeter sometimes.
JJ, you're an idiot. He knew that and was saying the cure for having too much water in your body is dehydration. Way to fail, ass.
How is this related to technology again?
Also, most regular smokers won't be the slightest bit bothered about this.
It is technology related because the cifarettes they are referring to are... electronic technology
Tommo shoots and scores...
wouldn't it be better and cheaper to just quit all together? Actually I think the best option is to never start, but sadly it's too late for the people who already smoke.
Thank you Captain Obvious.
I think a better solution is abortion. If you are aborted, then you can't ever start. It's the only full proof method, in my opinion...
You mean fool proof, right?
Fool proof and astronomically less painful all around.
Wow, talking about abortions that never happened is so existential.
Actually there are numerous reasons why people vape with e-cigs over traditional cigarettes... I for one use them because I live around elderly people that are sensitive to second hand smoke. With the e-cig there's pretty no smell whatsoever and from my experience I actually feel a LOT healthier ever since I started vaping
Says one of the most corrupt organization on this planet. I'm sure their tobacco friends had a say on this. Not that smoking in general is very healthy but this is way better than tobacco. You don't even need a lab to prove this, just blow the inhaled smoke on a napkin and compare it. There's a huge difference between combustion and vaporization. Combustion has so many bad side products that it would take the FDA 5671 years to go through them all. But it's much easier to accept the bribe money.
Do "old school" cigarettes have Glycol in them?
Do these e-cigarettes have 40+ carcinogenic compounds and ~400 other toxins?
Yes, regular cigarettes have diethylene glycol in them. Please note that that in the FDA's e-cigarette study, out of 18 cartridges tested, only 1 of them was found to contain diethylene glycol. The FDA has been out to get the e-cigarette industry for quite a while now... they've been in bed with the tobacco industry for even longer.
@broli: You're right! Damn conspiracies! And while they did that, Obama was probably chatting it over with Osama on how they're gonna plan the next big terrorist attack on the U.S.! Watch out, with a cunningly open-minded person like you on the job, the government might just have to take you out.
Uhh, HELLO! It's freaking smoke!
its not smoke, its water vapor.
vapor water
Nicotine isn't soluable in water. It's not water vapor. It's ethylene glycol vapor or tolulene vapor or methanol vapor all very toxic chemicals that are clear. Clear doesn't mean safe. I'll take the tar in cigarette's any day over inhaling whatever chemical cocktail they are using to put nicotine into solution then vaporize it.
Use a nicotine patch for the physical addiction and suck on a coc.. toothpick for the oral fixation.
No, it's vapour.
Yeah, but a toothpick won't blast it on your face when he is done.
"Nicotine isn't soluable in water. It's not water vapor. It's ethylene glycol vapor or tolulene vapor or methanol vapor all very toxic chemicals that are clear. Clear doesn't mean safe. I'll take the tar in cigarette's any day over inhaling whatever chemical cocktail they are using to put nicotine into solution then vaporize it."
Trent, it's not ethylene glycol, toluene or methanol vapor, e-cigarettes either use propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, both safe ingredients that are used in A LOT of things that you already put in your body. You'd be nuts to want to put all that crap from cigarettes in your body instead of what's in an e-cigarette!
Wouldn't be surprised if this was all just borderline made up and funded by the anti smoking agencies. They don't want anyone smoking anymore and if people found out their was a supposed safer way to do it, they know lots of new smokers would flock to it.
The guy in the picture has lady hands.
Nothing like Pure Nicotine coming from one of these expensive babies. Heck why not just start shooting it straight into your arteries. Probably safest and fastest way. So much for the $200 e-cigarette that my husband just bought. Hmm maybe I just won't tell him his new cancer stick isn't so cancer free....
You know they use nicotine to euthanize animals, right? Maybe that's not such a bad idea....
too much of anything will kill you, except maybe oxygen... MAYBE...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_toxicity
Wow, your husband should divorce you if you're that unsupportive and easily-led.
Most e-liquids contain propylene glycol, which has been tested since the 40s and has been found not only to be safe, but in vapor form to be a powerful deterrent against airborne diseases. That's right, the same propylene glycol used in foods and room deodorizers that the FDA says is safe.
Cue the Wacky Sax Benny Hill music.
the e-cig booth at our local mall was unattended had a help wanted sight up hmm?
The Electronic Cigarette Association has a great rebutal to this FDA announcement. These same carcinogens are found in many of the approved "stop smoking" aids currently available on the market! When you use tobacco to derive your nicotine you're going to get some toxins. But at what levels? Orders of magnatude less then a real cigarette? Indeed.
It's about harm reduction. That's what these provide. A safer way to satisfy your nicotine cravings. I have been using mine for 1 week and haven't smoked an "analog" cig. No tar, no carbon monoxide, no stink. In fact I smoke at my desk in a bank!
Hard to imagine they're concerned with traces of harmful toxins in e-cigs when the FDA is ready to take over control of big tobacco. The #1 killer in the US! Open your eyes people...it's scare tactics at it's finest. Don't buy the hype.
Scare tactic, hehe. Just like the politicians trying to tell us that a government health care plan is bad. We already have a government health care plan that runs quite well, covers more than insurance companies do, and pays better than some of them too. (Medicaid - aka welfare health care)
When will there be an e-toilet invented? I think our culture is going a little over board with this stuff.
"So remind us again, what's the point in smoking one of these over an old school cigarette?"
what's the point of smoking period?
The point of smoking period? It might be... some sort of fetish, I guess.
Okay, so what about an iPhone app instead? You bring your iPhone up to your mouth. Pretend your taking a puff by pressing a button. The screen displays a cigarette of your choice lighting up. And smoke being released.
Remember to turn your head to the side so that the person in front of you can see your display while you do all this.
Great a cocktail parties. The ladies will think you're sophisticated because you smoke, yet concerned for your health, because your smoking an iPhone app instead of the real thing. :)
Sell the app for a $1. I'm telling ya, there will be maybe 100 or so people in each city that will download it as a stupid sight gag to play on their friends. Now multiply that by the number of cities in the world....
I quit smoking after 20 years in March and here is the thing as far as I was concerned - I didn't care about the nicotine, I wanted to SMOKE. The nicotine just makes it all that harder to quit by adding a chemical layer of addiction on top. I don't think I had gotten a buzz of a cigarette in 10 years...