Despite the fact that we live in an age of unprecedented knowledge and access to information, many myths and untruths continue to hold sway. Some of these myths are harmless, but others are dangerous and are often purposely propagated by powerful interest groups to achieve an economic or political goal. A number of myths exist about e-cigarettes as well, and the purpose of this article is to dispel them.

Myth #1: Electronic cigarettes can explode

This is a very common myth so it will be addressed first. The battery used in an e-cigarette is identical to the one used in mobile phones. Whilst there is a chance of the battery exploding, it is so small that for practical purposes it is non-existent. There are some 6.8 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide – about 96 per cent of the world’s population – and they use mobile phones safely. The electronic cigarette is just as safe as a mobile phone.

Myth #2: E-cigarettes contain anti-freeze

This is not true. The main active ingredient in anti-freeze is ethylene glycol, whereas one of the main ingredients in electronic cigarette liquid is propylene glycol. While they might sound similar, they are very different. Ethylene glycol is toxic to humans and animals, but propylene glycol is widely used in many everyday products and is classified by the United States Food and Drug Administration as “generally recognized as safe”.

Myth #3: E-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is poisonous

First of all, not all electronic cigarettes contain nicotine. Some do, and some don’t. More importantly, nicotine is only poisonous in relatively large quantities; far more than you would find in an e-cigarette or a tobacco cigarette for that matter. The risk of nicotine poisoning is very low, as you would have to ingest about 50mg of pure nicotine for it to kill you. The main reason that tobacco cigarettes have nicotine is to make them addictive. This is also the reason that nicotine replacement therapies like e-cigarettes are widely recognised as the best ways to quit smoking.

Myth #4: Electronic cigarettes are dangerous because nobody knows what is in them

This is not true. The ingredients of contained in e-cigarette liquid are well-known and entirely safe. The liquid is made up of propylene glycol (a common food preservative), vegetable glycerin (basically, vegetable oil) and food flavour (yet another food ingredient). Furthermore, it can contain nicotine if the user wants nicotine.

Myth #5: Electronic cigarettes are illegal

The sale, possession and use of e-cigarettes is permitted in all Australian states and territories. Some European countries and states of the United States have passed laws to prohibit the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors, and a handful of countries have banned them entirely, but this has not happened in Australia.

A new, and somewhat bizarre, electronic cigarette has been developed in the United States that sends the user tweets. The device is linked to a person’s Twitter account and sends them messages about their usage habits in an effort to encourage them to quit smoking. It also sends tweets about the health and other benefits of quitting smoking. Furthermore, the invention is able to identify triggers for nicotine cravings, such as different times of the day or different activities. It is this informative aspect of the tweeting e-cigarette that probably has the greatest potential to aid people who are trying to quit smoking. As most smokers are well aware, smoking triggers are a key part of their addiction, and anticipating them and dealing with them is crucial to quitting successfully.

Another aspect of the new device is the public message that it sends to the user’s Twitter followers. The user has announced to the world that they want to quit and this puts a certain amount of pressure on them to follow through with their goal. It also enables their Twitter followers to offer encouragement and support. The new invention might also work by shaming the smoker into quitting.

The tweeting electronic cigarette was developed by a New York based creative agency called R/GA. One of the employees is an e-cigarette user and this gave someone the idea to link it with another popular recent phenomenon, namely Twitter, and see whether it could be marketed.

Some of the sample tweets are rather ambiguous and it is not entirely clear how they could help someone who wants to quit. One example is: “1 E-cig = 1 beer at Will’s place. 17 beers. Soon he’ll be on his butt.” Obviously, more effort needs to be put into the tweets if they are to truly help someone quit smoking with the aid of the new device.

The creators of the tweeting electronic cigarette are now searching for an e-cigarette company interested in manufacturing and marketing the product.

Up until quite recently, most people had not heard about electronic cigarettes – or e-cigarettes as they are sometimes known – even though the product began to be mass-marketed in 2004. Today, hardly a day goes by that electronic cigarettes are not in the news. There are debates over their safety and effectiveness, and a number of jurisdictions have taken steps to either ban them completely or to limit their availability. Despite this, sales are booming, and it is estimated that the global e-cigarette market is valued at approximately $2 billion. The United States is the world’s biggest market, accounting for about one-quarter of total sales.

The electronic cigarette was initially only manufactured in China and it was a generic product that some companies labeled with their brand name and logo. Claims that one brand is superior to another are generally overinflated and do not reflect the fact that all of them are of a similar standard. Recently, however, manufacturing businesses have opened up in the United States to improve the quality of the devices, which, being mass produced in China, is not always at the level demanded by consumers in developed countries.

Although e-cigarettes were initially only available from online businesses and were viewed as something a bit odd, they have become a mainstream product, being sold at petrol stations and convenience stores. In the United Kingdom, Tesco, the leading supermarket conglomerate, sells them; a sure sign that they have become a mainstream product and no longer the exclusive preserve of electronic cigarette aficionados.

This rising popularity of e-cigarettes has drawn the attention of two colossal and ruthless global industries: the pharmaceutical and tobacco. Both have seen the electronic cigarette eat away at their bottom line, and big tobacco has entered the market in an attempt to reap some of the economic benefits of the booming trade in e-cigarettes. In the United States, Lorillard, one of the leading cigarette companies, purchased Blu Ecigs in April 2012 for $135 million, a sign that it believes that the electronic cigarette is a cash cow to be milked well into the future. British American Tobacco, on the other hand, has established a research company called Nicoventures to develop its own e-cigarette. The Chief Financial Officer of British American Tobacco stated in an interview with the Financial Times in September 2012 that electronic cigarettes would account for about 40 per cent of the company’s revenues in twenty years time.

All of this poses an enormous threat to the big pharmaceutical companies – mainly Pfizer – which currently dominate the Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) market which is valued at around $2.4 billion, and whose market dominance has been largely unchallenged up until quite recently with the arrival and growing popularity of the e-cigarette. This explains the strong political lobbying by Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies that sell NRTs to have electronic cigarettes banned.

Source: Euromonitor International, 23 November 2012.

1. Avoid many health risks

Research has shown that tobacco smoke contains at least 5000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. The vapour produced by electronic cigarettes does not contain any of these chemicals. Instead it contains a mixture of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and food flavour, all of which are found in many products that people consume every day and are entirely safe. By switching to the e-cigarette, you will greatly reduce your risk of developing cancer, a pulmonary illness or a respiratory disease.

2. Save money

A packet of cigarettes costs around $15. If you smoke a packet a day, that adds up to $5475 a year. It would only cost a fraction of that to purchase and operate an electronic cigarette. Imagine all of the other things you could buy with the money that you saved. Vaping is good for the bank balance as well as your health.

3. Vape where you like

Because there aren’t any laws against using the e-cigarette in public places, you can use it in restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, airports, buses, trains, nightclubs and pretty much everywhere else you aren’t allowed to smoke. The electronic cigarette does not produce any harmful vapours or smoke and can thus be used safely around other people.

4. Regain your sense of smell and taste

The smoke from tobacco cigarettes damages the taste buds inside of your mouth and the smell receptors inside of your nose. This is why smokers don’t enjoy their food as much as non-smokers. When you quit smoking, you regain these senses, enabling you to enjoy your food once again.

5. No passive smoke

Passive smoke – or second-hand smoke, as it is sometimes called – is just as dangerous to people around you as the cigarette smoke is to you. This is why it is forbidden to smoke around children and to smoke in public places. It has been argued that passive smoke is more dangerous than cigarette smoke because the smoker at least has a filter in their cigarette to filter out some of the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, unlike the stander-by who has no such filter. The e-cigarette does not produce a harmful vapour and can thus be used safely anywhere.

6. You and your home will smell nicer

Cigarette smoke leaves a horrible smell on you and your home. Smokers often aren’t even aware of this, but non-smokers can definitely smell the stale cigarette smoke smell. Cigarette smoke gets in your hair and into your clothes, making you stink when in public, and no amount of perfume or cologne can cover up the smell of cigarette smoke.

7. Eliminate fire risks

Many people die in house fires each year caused by cigarettes. By switching to the electronic cigarette you can make your home a safer place and protect your loved ones. Electronic cigarettes do not have a flame and can not start a fire. Thus, they are safe to use inside the house.

8. White teeth

There are not too many things as unattractive as teeth yellowed from years of smoking. If you spend the time and money getting your teeth whitened, smoking will only make them yellow again. If you quit smoking with the e-cigarette, your teeth will become white again and look very impressive.

9. Keep the weight off

Many people don’t want to quit smoking because they are scared of putting on weight, which is perfectly understandable. Instead of putting a cigarette to their mouth, they start putting food in their mouth. The electronic cigarette does not cause weight gain because you still have something to put in your mouth, thus satisfying this urge. It keeps a person’s hands busy and makes them less prone to snacking on food.

The popularity of electronic cigarettes has increased rapidly during the past few years. People in every part of the world use them, and they are recognised as a great alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes. Have you ever wondered who invented this popular quit smoking product? It all happened in 1963 when Herbert Gilbert, an amateur American inventor, came up with what he called a “smokeless non-tobacco cigarette”. In his patent, Gilbert explained that his device worked by “replacing burning tobacco and paper with heated, moist, flavored air.” Attempts to commercialise Gilbert’s invention, unfortunately, failed, and his product fell into obscurity. However, it deserves a mention as the earliest patent for an electronic cigarette.

The contemporary manifestation of the e-cigarette that you are probably familiar with was invented by a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik, whose father, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. Lik, who was also a heavy smoker, wanted to create a healthy alternative to the tobacco cigarette which could save the lives of people who would otherwise die of a tobacco-related illness. He patented his electronic cigarette in 2003, and the following year formed a company to manufacture and sell his product, first in the Chinese market, and then internationally. The e-cigarette became a worldwide hit and was even used by a number of well-known American actors. The popularity of the product is not difficult to understand, considering how many smokers there are throughout the world and the desire of most of them to quit to their unhealthy habit.