They are called e-cigarettes, and they are a $2-billion industry in the U.S. They are battery-operated devices that produce a vapor laced with highly addictive nicotine. Research is in the preliminary stage and no one knows for sure if these electronic cigarettes are any safer–or less harmful–than tobacco. The FDA doesn’t monitor them, but has done analysis that found low levels of nitrosamines, ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol–all associated with cancer.
The good news is that Moffitt Cancer Center has embarked on a study of e-cigarette use, the long-term effects of inhaling a nicotine solution and whether they actually help people quit smoking tobacco.
The bad news is that e-cigarettes have increasing appeal to high school students, and no one will know for a while exactly how “safe” they really are. For now, they are a cheaper habit for some smokers who are hopeful about eventual research results. And they make rationalizing nicotine intake easier. Call them r-cigarettes until the research is conclusive.