The dangers of vape

It is not uncommon to see a group of teenagers in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, in the bed of one’s truck, vaping. These teengers see this action as completely harmless due to the public perception of vaping. They don’t realize that it can cause damage because of all the chemicals in the juice that is used.

Majority of users have never even heard of diacetyl, the artificial flavoring added in juices that can cause “popcorn lungs”. This disease results in miniscule holes forming on the lungs. That also cause the obstruction of the smallest airways of the lungs due to inflammation.

There are other chemicals considered carcinogens inside of the juice as well, such as, propylene glycol or glycerin. When those are heated and vaporized they can degrade into formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, which can cause cancer. These are also found in chemicals like antifreeze for cars.

Ingesting this liquid straight out of the bottle can be even more dangerous, potentially life threatening. There have been instances of infants getting ahold of a bottle and dieing due to the effects. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a press release in 2014 indicating that the number of calls into poison centers involving e-cigarette liquids was 215 times greater compared to 2010.

Although there are all these unknown chemicals in vaping liquids, the only one that is commonly known to come from vape is nicotine. With so many teenagers vaping, their brains are being harmed. Nicotine is proven to harm developing brains of kids and could affect memory and attention span.

Nicotine can also have negative effects on reproductive health, which is not good news for young adults who will one day go on to have children.

Another forgotten risk that could happen at anytime with electronic vaping of any kind, is the battery exploding. Most batteries are lithium-ion batteries, which over time can become worn out and prone to combustion.There were 134 reports of e-cigarette batteries overheating, catching fire, or exploding between 2009 and January 2016, according to Michael Felberbaum, an FDA spokesperson.

These explosions usually happen in someone’s pocket which can cause severe burns on the thigh or leg. Then it’s hard to get the vape out of your pocket due to the fact that it’s either very hot or on fire. Another common place for it to happen is right in someone’s face during use. This is an obvious place for high risk from an explosion.

Bottom line is that vape has countless more harmful effects than beneficial effects. The harmful effects on the body in general should not be ignored, just so you can have a buzz or be with the trend.