Secondhand Vaping: E-Cigarettes Pose a Risk to More Than Just the User
If you have children, you may have switched from smoking to vaping when you’re around them in an effort to protect them from the dangers of secondhand smoke. However, it turns out that vaping around them… or even vaping in a room they will later be in… poses very serious risks to their health and safety.
A recent study showed that many parents who refuse to smoke in front of their children are likely to vape around them, believing that it’s safer. The study examined data from 2016 and 2017. It showed that while many parents have rules about not smoking around their children, they considered vaping to be different.
Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, the lead author of this study, said, in an interview with Today, “We think parents are trying to use these products to protect their kids, unfortunately, what we’re seeing is they’re using these products in ways that they would never dream of using a cigarette: right in front of their kids, in their home, in their car… and that’s disturbing.” Dr. Winickoff is a practicing general pediatrician and researcher at MassGeneral Hospital for Children.
He says that the vapor emitted from these products is not water, as many people believe, but is actually a “sticky goo” that gets turned into an ultra-fine aerosol with tiny particles that get inhaled deep into the lungs.
According to the CDC, substances found in vaping aerosol include:
Heavy metals, including lead
Cancer-causing chemicals
Flavoring like diacetyl, a chemical that’s been linked to a serious, irreversible lung disease called obliterative bronchiolitis
Volatile organic compounds, which may have adverse health effects
In addition, the American Cancer Society notes that formaldehyde may also form if the liquid overheats or not enough liquid is reaching the heating element.
Beyond the dangers of secondhand vaping, there’s the dangers they refer to as “thirdhand”, which involve the residue left behind on surfaces and in dust. This is a danger especially for young children and toddlers, who may be putting items in their mouths, as well as crawling or playing on the floor and generally interacting with surfaces more than adults normally do.
“The amount of poisonings due to unintentional exposure to e-cigarette solutions containing nicotine has increased exponentially in the United States since 2011, with several fatalities” [sic] says Dr. Ellen Rome, pediatrician and head of the Center for Adolescent Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. She adds that the e-liquid refills, or pods, look a little like Legos, and could easily be swallowed by an active toddler. “The Child Nicotine Poisoning Prevention Act of 2015 now requires containers of e-liquid to come in child-resistant packaging, yet we still get thousands of toxic exposures in children each year. The lithium-ion batteries used in the heating element have also been found to explode, leading to chemical burns and fires,” says Dr. Rome.
Of course, the dangers of ingesting pods, or coming into contact with the residue, not only apply to people, but also extend to our four-legged friends, who may pick up the residue on their paws and then lick their paws.
In light of the dangers—not only to yourself, but to those you love—of vaping, doesn’t it make more sense just to quit in a way that’s safe and effective? We’ve been providing smoking cessation hypnosis for over 35 years. In that time, we’ve helped thousands successfully quit, regardless of when they began or how long they have lived with a nicotine habit. In addition to addressing physical addiction, we’ll address concerns you might have around quitting (such as the fear of weight gain or the inability to relax). With hypnosis, there need not be any weight gain; you can even lose a bit of weight if you so desire. And while hypnosis won’t remove all stressors from your life, hypnosis helps to address cravings that add to feelings of stress. We’ll also provide a free stress-reduction hypnosis recording and other resources you can use to manage stress long after our work together is finished.
Give us a call or contact us to see how we can help.