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The Effects of Smokeless Cigarettes

Smokeless cigarettes deliver nicotine to the user's lungs directly, without tobacco. The devices, commonly called electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, operate by batteries and contain liquid nicotine, which turns to vapor when users puff on them. As of 2010, scientists and health professionals have not determined the long-term health risks of electronic cigarettes. However, the limited research scientists have conducted and the manner in which distributors market the product raise concerns.

  1. Deeper Puffs

    • According to researchers at the University of California, Riverside, electronic cigarettes require users to puff more deeply to get the desired nicotine into their lungs. "It is too early to know exactly what effect stronger inhaling and diminishing amounts of aerosol will have on human health," said cell biology professor Prue Talbot, who led the 2010 study, "but these factors are likely to lead to compensatory smoking." The study used a "smoking machine" that simulates the actions of a human puffing a cigarette and allows researches to calculate vacuum rates. Consumers may have to use more nicotine cartridges to get the same level of nicotine they receive from tobacco cigarettes.

    No Nicotine

    • Dr. Thomas Eissenberg of Virgina Commonwealth University came to an even more extreme conclusion after his 2010 study, in which 16 actual humans puffed tobacco and electronic cigarettes. After monitoring their heart rates and nicotine levels and comparing the results, Eissenberg declared that e-cigarettes "are as effective at nicotine delivery as puffing on an unlit cigarette." He found that electronic cigarettes did not deliver nicotine to the lungs at all.

    Inappropriate Marketing

    • The Food and Drug Administration distributed a press release in 2009 expressing concern about the ingredients in electronic cigarette vapors. Their laboratory analysis found trace amounts of carcinogens and other toxic chemicals. The press release also raised concerns that distributors were marketing the devices to young people as a safe alternative to smoking, though science has not yet determined the safety of the products.

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