To vape or not to vape seems to be the most discussed topic these days. Stories and rumors are circulating in mainstream media and social media that e-cigarette liquids are full of toxic formaldehyde or antifreeze. Professional hoaxers even loudly claim that kids who try vaping will instantly become smokers. The truth is that all of these rumors are false, created to pull smokers away from vaping and push them into the arms of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. Here are the biggest myths about vaping and the scientific evidence that contradicts them.
Vaping is the gateway to cigarettes
Even the CDC itself has denied this rumor, although they really don’t like to publicize it. However, just read the Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students – United States, 2011-2016 report, and you can see the clear evidence. The rate of teen smoking has dropped to 8% from 16% in just 5 years.
Coincidentally, over the same five years, vaping has become increasingly popular across the US. Professor Michael Siegel of Boston University School of Medicine has called the rate of decline unprecedented.
“The rate of decline in youth smoking is unprecedented. This is despite the continued growth of e-cigarettes. These data are completely inconsistent with the hypothesis that vaping normalizes smoking and is a gateway to smoking for young people.”
E-cigarette oils contain antifreeze.
Holy shit. Do people still believe this ridiculous lie? Unfortunately, this rumor is still circulating on social media and internet forums.
This rumor started when someone discovered that essential oils contain PG. Some people, claiming to be right, openly announced that PG is an ingredient in many antifreeze products. So, if essential oils contain PG, and PG is also an ingredient in antifreeze, by the bridging property, does that mean essential oils are antifreeze?
FALSE! PG is present in both products, but it is added to antifreeze by manufacturers to prevent accidental ingestion by children and pets. PG reduces the toxicity of antifreeze. Furthermore, in 1940, a scientist named Theodore Puck concluded that vaporized PG is not only safe but can also kill airborne bacteria.
One of Professor Puck's most prominent studies, titled The Bactericidal action of propylene glycol vapor on microorganisms suspended in air, is still available on the NLB-NHI website.
E-cigarette smoke contains formaldehyde
This rumor is based on the rather genuine memories of many Americans from their school days studying biology. Who can forget the horrible smell of formaldehyde when opening the box containing the dissected frogs? This absurd lie is supported by studies published in January 2015, and has also been refuted by much of the scientific community.
The study, titled Hidden Formaldehyde in E-Cigarette Aerosols , so angered the scientific community that many researchers joined forces and asked the NIH to explain. To prove their point, they produced their own studies that showed the rumor was false. One reputable study was by former Wales Governor Clive Bates, titled Spreading fear and confusion with misleading formaldehyde studies.
The second study, titled The deception of measuring formaldehyde in e-cigarette aerosol: the difference between laboratory measurements and true exposure, was led by Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos of the Onassis Cardiovascular Center in Greece.
