There is a chemical (Diacetyl) sometimes found in the liquid that e-cigarettes use (or e-liquid for vaping), and there is a new “scare” about it’s presence in e-liquids. Which is hardly new news to serious vapers.
Nobody has demonstrated that diacetyl is dangerous in e-liquids.
What has been demonstrated is that diacetyl (which is very commonly used in the food industry as a flavouring) can potentially cause a condition called “popcorn lung” in people working with powdered diacetyl. It is obviously a very serious condition, but is also very rare.
Finding diacetyl in e-liquids is obviously not good, but it has been known about for at least a year and most respectable manufacturers are changing to alternative flavourings. What is not mentioned in the mainstream media is that smoking results in 10-100 times as much diacetyl being inhaled – if the potential for diacetyl in vaping is bad, then the certainty of diacetyl in smoke is worse.
Should e-liquid manufacturers stop using diacetyl? It is not certain that diacetyl in e-liquids is harmful, but it makes sense for manufacturers to remove it – which is what many of them have been doing!
Should vapers give up and risk going back to smoking? Well, no of course. Even ignoring all the other health risks associated with smoking, the risk associated with diacetyl is almost certainly far greater with smoking than with vaping.
Should vapers choose e-liquids that do not have diacetyl? That makes a great deal of sense, and there are plenty of choices out there.
To use a phrase used elsewhere: The safest way to vape is not to vape at all. But it doesn’t make sense to stop vaping if that puts you at risk of going back to smoking.
Bystanders? Worry about diesel pollution first.
And you don’t have to believe me; there are plenty of others suspicious of the new study :-
- http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/14/media-bias-exposed-popcorn-lung-chemical-750-times-greater-in-tobacco-vs-e-cigarettes/
- http://www.ecigarette-research.org/research/index.php/whats-new/whatsnew-2015/236-da2
