Beware untested e-smokes

Would you drive up to a service station whose name you do not recognize and fill up your tank with a type of gasoline you never heard of before? The gasoline apparently had not been tested by any government service and was labeled only with “one, two, three.”

That is what happens when one decides to “smoke” electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). They have not been approved, or tested, by any government authority. The devices are powered with batteries and the vapor produced gets its source from a nicotine solution and a “flavor” solution.

Since no analysis and critical testing of the vaporized materials has been done, there is no telling what the short- and long-term effects of these chemicals might be. Since they’re taken directly into the lungs, they may produce disastrous effects, including cancer. These side effects may not become evident for several years after their use, as it is in the case with cigarette smoking.

Articles written about e-cigarettes tend to glamorize the use of such products. It is certain that you would not gamble with harming your automobile engine with untested fuel, and I hope that you would not subject your vital organs to such untested vapor.

Dennis W. Biggs Jr., M.D.

Spokane