An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), or vape,[note 1][1] is a device that simulates smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor.[2] As such, using an e-cigarette is often called "vaping".[3]
Nicotine is highly addictive.[9][10][11] Users become physically and psychologically dependent.[12] Although some evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are less addictive than smoking, with slower nicotine absorption rates,[13][14] long-term e-cigarette safety remains uncertain.[15][16] One issue is the need to separate the effects of vaping from the effects of smoking among users who both vape and smoke.[note 4][17]
E-cigarettes containing nicotine are more effective than nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation.[18][19] Vaping is likely far less harmful than smoking, but still harmful.[20][21][22] E-cigarette vapor contains far fewer toxins than cigarette smoke, and at much lower concentrations. The vapor typically contains traces of harmful substances not found in cigarette smoke.[22] However, e-cigarettes have not been subject to the same rigorous testing that most nicotine replacement therapy products have,[23] and health warnings may encourage a smoker to quit vaping.[24]
^Miyasato, K. (March 2013). "[Psychiatric and psychological features of nicotine dependence]". Nihon Rinsho. Japanese Journal of Clinical Medicine (in Japanese). 71 (3): 477–481. PMID23631239.
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) (18 May 2018). Stratton, Kathleen; Kwan, Leslie Y.; Eaton, David L. (eds.). "Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes". National Academies Press. National Academies Press (US). doi:10.17226/24952. ISBN978-0-309-46834-3. PMID29894118.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) |quote="There is moderate evidence that risk and severity of dependence are lower for e-cigarettes than combustible tobacco cigarettes."
^Walley, Susan C.; Wilson, Karen M.; Winickoff, Jonathan P.; Groner, Judith (1 June 2019). "A Public Health Crisis: Electronic Cigarettes, Vape, and JUUL". Pediatrics. 143 (6): e20182741. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-2741. PMID31122947. S2CID163165584. Because e-cigarettes have only been marketed for ~10 years... scientific data are limited and will continue to emerge. Because e-cigarette solutions and emissions have been shown to contain nicotine and many of the same harmful toxicants and carcinogens as cigarettes, it is reasonable to assume that there is the potential for similar health effects for e-cigarette use, particularly with emerging data of tobacco toxicant exposure found among e-cigarette users.
^ abBalfour, David J. K.; Benowitz, Neal L.; Colby, Suzanne M.; Hatsukami, Dorothy K.; Lando, Harry A.; Leischow, Scott J.; Lerman, Caryn; Mermelstein, Robin J.; Niaura, Raymond; Perkins, Kenneth A.; Pomerleau, Ovide F.; Rigotti, Nancy A.; Swan, Gary E.; Warner, Kenneth E.; West, Robert (September 2021). "Balancing Consideration of the Risks and Benefits of E-Cigarettes". American Journal of Public Health. 111 (9): 1661–1672. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2021.306416. PMC8589069. PMID34410826. Among potentially toxic substances common to both products, cigarette smoke generally contains substantially larger quantities than e-cigarette aerosol. However, e-cigarette aerosol contains some substances not found in cigarette smoke."
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