Wellness

[Buttercups]

A friend of mine has given up quitting smoking completely, instead switching to an electronic cigarette. She told me it emits water vapor into the air and that's all. A couple weeks ago she was in my home smoking it for an hour and exhaling puffs of the vapor, and small amounts came out of it directly. Suddenly I began coughing violently, which continued off and on for the hour during her visit and a while after she left.

I trusted in what she told me and the windows were cracked so my cough was triggered by some pollen or dust in the air, but when she was gone I noticed a distinct, chemical odor that hung in the room, so I flung open every window and turned on the ceiling fan. I looked e-cigs up on-line and saw that in fact they have several carcinogenic chemicals that release not only into the smoker's lungs, but into the environment as well.

It irked me that she saw my obvious reaction and continued smoking. Although it's possible she really believes it's water vapor I tend to doubt that. Just wanted to mention this, for those who might consider either taking up e-cigs or being around those who smoke them. Next time I'm around one of those things I'm high-tailing it out of the vicinity. Here's one study (my browser doesn't work with the link insert so excuse the need to cut-and-paste):

http://tobacco.ucsf.edu/e-cigarettes-release-toxic-chemicals-indoors-should-be-included-clean-indoor...