Most e-cigarettes have chemicals that will hurt your lungs
About 75 percent of flavored e-cigs could give you a lung disease.
Electronic cigarettes are ostensibly safer for you than conventional cigs (you're not inhaling tar and other elements of tobacco smoke), but it now looks like they might not be much better at all. Researchers have found that 75 percent of flavored e-cigs contain diacetyl, a flavoring chemical that can produce "popcorn lung" disease when inhaled over the long term. To boot, many of the tested flavors had other related chemicals (like 2,3-pentanedione and acetoin) on top of known risky ingredients, such as formaldehyde.
While it's no shock to hear that e-cigs aren't exactly healthy, the study may well be eye-opening. Most of the concern over these pleasure sticks has centered on their nicotine, not the additional chemicals that improve the taste. Although these devices may help wean you off of old-school cigarettes, they can still be deadly -- if health is your focus, you're better off avoiding smoking altogether.
[Image credit: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]
