What is an electronic cigarette?

Electronic cigarettes are cigarettes of the new generation. They allow you to smoke without harming yourself or people around you. For smokers – it is an excellent opportunity to switch to an alternative way of smoking, that is safer for them and their close ones; for those who are dreaming to quit smoking – it is a wonderful cessation aid that helps to give up the bad habit; for those used to keeping up with the times and be in fashion – this is the most modern and fashionable accessory that one can imagine.
Electronic cigarette is an electronic device for inhaling the imitation of cigarette smoke (the warmed up vapor containing nicotine and tobacco flavor). Electronic cigarette has almost complete resemblance to a traditional cigarette.
An electronic cigarette generally employs three basic components: a battery with a lamp (LED combustion imitator), an atomizer (a heating element that serves to vaporize the liquid in the mouthpiece), and a cartridge (mouthpiece).

How an electronic cigarette works

When a smoker inhales through an electronic cigarette, the air-flow is detected by an internal sensor. This sensor activates microprocessor that sends a signal to an atomizer that vaporizes liquid stored in the cartridge. The liquid in the cartridge contains nicotine or some amount of flavoring widely used in cigarettes and in food additives. This procedure is very effective and is similar to smoking a traditional cigarette. It can refresh smokers and satisfy their cravings for a smoke, as well simplify the process of quitting smoking.

The difference from traditional cigarettes

The main difference from traditional tobacco smoking is that with the electronic cigarette there is no process of combustion, which means no tar, no carcinogens and no other dangerous chemical elements inevitably associated with conventional cigarette smoking (hydrocyanic acid, nitrogen dioxide, lead, mercury, arsenic— more than 800 components). These are harmful elements and not the nicotine itself that primarily cause development of devastating diseases and various pathologies. Smoking electronic cigarettes allows saving health, saving money and gradually quitting the bad habit completely.

Advantages of electronic cigarettes:

• Electronic cigarettes don't contain carbon-monoxide, tar and carcinogens (in comparison with the smoke from a regular cigarette that contains more than 4000 chemicals, high concentration of carbon monoxide and 60 carcinogens is potentially lethal)
• you don't need lighters or matches; no ash, no stubs left
• the smoke from electronic cigarette does not irritate the eyes of the smoker, leaves no unpleasant smell in the rooms, no smell on your clothes and does not bother other people because it is a vapor without smell
• if you use a liquid without nicotine electronic cigarette is harmless to your health
• you can forget about yellow teeth and unpleasant mouth smell
• electronic cigarettes can be smoked in any public places without disturbing other people

Types of electronic cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes come in 3 types:
Pen-style (cigarette with a holder) usually 140-170 mm long
Mini Cig (100-120 mm)
Super Mini (Micro) – the most similar to a traditional cigarette 84-100 mm
There are also electronic cigars, tubes and devices with the original design of the Janty Stick of I Inhale type.
Besides, electronic cigarettes differ in terms of the battery type (automatic or manual). In automatic models the duration of the drag is regulated by the chip; on manual ones the user has to depress a button to activate the atomizer to produce the vapor. Manual models are more popular because they allow regulating the amount of vapor and the duration of the drag. However, automatic models are bought too, because not all the models come with manual batteries, and also because sometimes it is important not to be distracted by buttons (such as while driving for example).

The durability of electronic cigarettes and their parts.

An electronic cigarette's life is about a year if utilized properly. So you get a visible economy.
The battery life on average is from 1 up to 3 months. The durability of atomizer is on average from 1 up to 4 weeks. So it is necessary to buy extra parts for electronic cigarettes. Most people buy about 2 batteries and 4 atomizers at once.
1 cartridge is equivalent to 5-15 standard cigarettes. So, having 2 extra cartridges in your cigarette case, you are carrying 1-2 packages of cigarettes with you.

Cartridge, refilling with e-liquid and e-juice

The cartridge of an electronic cigarette contains special solution – so-called "e-liquid" or "e-juice". One cartridge is equivalent to 5-15 cigarettes. After the cartridge is empty, it is necessary to either install a new one or refill it with the liquid. In general, refilling with e-liquid is a more popular alternative because cartridges get empty very quickly, and buying new ones is too expensive. Besides, there are a lot of different liquids available providing almost any flavor up to the most exotic ones (coffee, vanilla, cola, red-bull, chocolate, menthol, peppermint, peach, tutti-frutti, lemonade, cappuccino, Marlboro, Cuban cigar, 555, Virginia and many others). Such a great variety is another advantage of electronic cigarettes.

What do we smoke? Content

The liquid usually consists of the basis, nicotine, flavoring and some amount of water. The basis of this mix is propylene glycol (PG) or glycerin (VG). It is this component that is converted into vapor by the atomizer with ultrasound. Liquids are also available in differing nicotine and flavor concentrations, to let the user decide the amount of nicotine to be taken in. Liquids are also available that contain no nicotine at all.
Unlike traditional cigarettes, the electronic cigarettes contain no tar, no hard metals, do not contain most carcinogens. On the whole, they do not contain about 4000 chemicals present in the regular cigarettes. However, what are propylene glycol and glycerin – aren't they harmful? This question is still open. PG and VG are not considered to be carcinogens, but there are some suspicions about them. PG is suspected as a neuro-toxicant, immuno-toxicant and gastro-toxicant. However, the investigations show insignificant level of danger. PG is widely used in medicine (even injected intravenously), as food additives (e.g. in flavorings), it also possesses decontaminating quality, used as a conserving agent, dissolvent for creating steam in theatre smoke generators. This means that it is not in fact considered as harmful. It is widely used, although some suspicions exist and deeper investigations are required. PG was tested on rats and monkeys and the experiments showed that no significant alterations took place. However, in very big concentrations it can be dangerous, although it is considered that these concentrations are just impossible to be reached by a human being. The effect when inhaling PG is also not explored enough. In fact, when getting into body, PG is then processed into lactic acid that can produce muscle pain at initial stages. In these cases it is recommended to drink more water. It is considered not risky. PG can also accumulate water, which also has unclear effect on health.