On April 29, New York, Chicago and San Francisco implemented regulations prohibiting the use of e cigarettes in smoke free environments. BreathEasy Augusta says the dangers of electronic cigarettes are a local concern, too.

We do not know that e cigarettes are safe and need to restrict them until further research is conducted, said Jennifer Anderson, the chairwoman of BreathEasy Augusta. Since e cigarettes are not regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, there is no scientific data to support the safety of e cigarettes for the user and for others in close proximity who inhale the emitted e cigarette vapors.

Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and San Francisco amended existing smoke free laws to include electronic smoking devices. Roughly 17 million residents who live in these cities will be affected by the new protections, according to The Associated Press.

Since Aug. 1, Georgia Regents University has implemented a tobacco free campus policy that includes prohibiting e cigarettes.

Some of the same toxins that are found in cigarettes are also found in electronic cigarettes, said Christine O Meara, GRU s director of Cancer Information and Awareness. E cigarettes are nicotine delivery devices, as are regular cigarettes, and nicotine is an addictive drug. The cancer center does not support the use of e cigarettes. Our top priority at GRU is to provide a safe and healthy environment for our students and teachers.

Not everyone, however, is convinced secondhand smoke from e cigarettes is hazardous.

I can t go as far as saying electronic cigarettes are healthy, but they re a healthier alternative, Lauryn Sprouse, the store manager of Vapor Shotz on Broad Street, said. Not only are they tobaccoless but customers can choose the amount of nicotine they want and some elect not to have any nicotine at all.

As for the potential dangers of secondhand smoke from e cigarettes, Sprouse said she does not believe bystanders are at risk.

It s water vapor, so I don t think it produces any secondhand harm, she said. Of course you want to be courteous and not smoke inside certain places but if you smoke outside I don t think people should worry about secondhand smoke.

Even though electronic cigarettes don t burn tobacco or produce ashes, Breath Easy Augusta claims there are other potentially dangerous consequences.

E cigarettes are battery operated, Anderson said. However, the nicotine is heated along with propylene glycol a chemical that s used industrially as antifreeze, solvent stabilizer and as a preservative in liquid livestock feeds. E cigarettes deliver an array of other chemicals, including diethylene glycol a highly toxic substance and various nitrosamines, which are powerful carcinogens found in tobacco. The vapor that is expelled also includes levels of nicotine and nitrosamines, among other chemicals.

Other concerns for O Meara are ads that depict the safety of e cig arettes and long term consequences for teens and children.

E cig promotions claiming that the vapor only includes pure nicotine and that e cig vapor is harmless water vapor are incorrect, she said. The aerosol emitted from electronic cigarettes is not purely water vapor but contains nicotine, ultrafine particles and low levels of toxins that are known to cause cancer.

Public health advocates are concerned that e cigarettes, a nicotine delivery device, are a gateway device to smoking among youth.

The Univer sity System of Georgia has adopted a tobacco free campus policy systemwide, effective Oct. 1.

Bbc news – e-cigarette users in uk have ‘tripled’ since 2010

Battle over e-cigarettes could block new eu tobacco rules

Of those now estimated to be using electronic cigarettes, around 700,000 are thought to be ex smokers and 1.3 million to be using them alongside normal cigarettes or tobacco.

Current smokers using the cigarettes regularly have risen from 2.7% in 2010 to 17.7% in 2014.

When ex smokers were asked why they used electronic cigarettes, 71% said they wanted help giving up smoking. Among smokers, 48% said wanted to reduce the amount of tobacco they smoked and 37% said they used e cigarettes to save money.

Smoking rate fall

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash, said “The dramatic rise in use of electronic cigarettes over the past four years suggests that smokers are increasingly turning to these devices to help them cut down or quit smoking. Significantly, usage among non smokers remains negligible.”

Another study, The Smoking Toolkit Study, which covers England, has found that electronic cigarettes are overtaking the use of nicotine products such as patches and gum as an aid to quitting smoking.

It also found that the proportion of smokers who gave up smoking in the past year had increased and smoking rates in England were continuing to fall.

Study leader Prof Robert West said “Despite claims that use of electronic cigarettes risks renormalising smoking, we found no evidence to support this view.

“On the contrary, electronic cigarettes may be helping to reduce smoking as more people use them as an aid to quitting.”

Ms Arnott added “While it is important to control the advertising of electronic cigarettes to make sure children and non smokers are not being targeted, there is no evidence from our research that e cigarettes are acting as a gateway into smoking.”

Ash’s survey suggests that most electronic cigarettes users, or “vapers”, use a rechargeable product with replaceable cartridges or a reservoir.

Simon Clark, director of Forest, a group that supports smokers, said it welcomed the rise of e cigarettes and was glad people had a choice of what to smoke.

But he suggested that most smokers using e cigarettes were experimenting with them rather than using them to give up smoking altogether.

“We haven’t seen a significant fall in smokers. Most smokers still find electronic cigarettes quite basic and it will take a few more years for the technology to improve.”