Mind if I Vape?

• Author: Winter, Mary
• Position: TRENDS - Bans on indoor vaping

As sales of electronic cigarettes have grown, so have questions about the health risks they may pose, including the possible effects of the secondhand vapors they emit. New Jersey, North Dakota, Utah and several local governments across the country have banned the use of e-cigarettes in indoor public areas, and some states have banned them in state buildings, such as schools and universities. Lawmakers in several other states are considering similar bans on indoor vaping, often by including them in their clean indoor air acts.

Research on these "nicotine delivering systems" is relatively scant. E-cigarettes--also called vaporizers, vapes or digital cigarettes--don't contain tobacco or tar and don't produce smoke like traditional cigarettes do. Instead, they come with cartridges containing flavored liquids, and a small battery that heats the liquid, converting it into vapor.

Studies have shown some of these vapors contain nicotine and the carcinogen formaldehyde. Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights believes e-cigarette emissions are dangerous and quotes Dr. Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California on its website: "If you are around somebody who is using e-cigarettes, you are breathing an aerosol of exhaled nicotine, ultra-fine particles, volatile organic compounds and other toxins." The American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and other health groups support bans on indoor vaping.

Others say the science is too...