Also see: Breaking News: New Vaping Study Finds No Evidence Of “Passive Vaping” in Non-Vapers Blood Counts
According to a post on UK Vapers, Sainsbury’s, one of the big three UK supermarket chains, has banned e cigarettes in staff areas.
A fear of passive smoking.
What’s In E-Cig Vapour?
none of the more than 10,000 chemicals present in tobacco smoke, including over 40 known carcinogens, has been shown to be present in the cartridge or vapor of electronic cigarettes in anything greater than trace quality.
We asked scientists what they thought about the dangers of “passive vaping”:
With respect to smokers, there is substantial and compelling scientific research documenting that consuming the ingredients in e-cigarettes (nicotine, propylene glycol, water and flavors) is vastly safer than burning tobacco and inhaling 3000+ toxic by-products. Claiming that e-cigarettes are dangerous for non-smokers is about as credible as claiming that air travel is dangerous for people who never set foot in an airplane.
Source: Professor Brad Rodu Click here for more quotes.
And here’s what Professor Carl Phillips had to say about the subject:
Nicotine Content in Exhaled Electronic Cigarette Vapour
While nicotine is addictive, it’s not responsible for 99% of the harm of smoking.
Scientists believe that nicotine carries around the same risk profile as a cup of coffee.
Not that that really matters, because non-smokers absorb just as much nicotine from vegetables as they do from second-hand tobacco smoke:
Using limited data on nicotine content of foodstuffs (tea, tomato, potato, green pepper, and eggplant) and the 198991 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSDII), the absorbed dose of nicotine is shown to be significant compared to present day environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) nicotine exposures.
Unfortunately, currently there are no studies into the nicotine content of exhaled vapour.
However, when I contacted Professor Siegel of the Tobacco Analysis Blog, he told me that he would be suprised if there was much nicotine at all in second hand vapour, as the nicotine in vapour is so readily absorbed.
What next for Sainsbury’s?
Sainsbury’s has understandably reacted to staff concerns.
However, given the rate that the e-cigarette market is growing at the moment, it’s likely that the company, like Tesco’s, will sell e-cigarettes at some point in the future.
When that happens, a ban on the devices in its own staff area might be hard to explain to customers!
Is passive vaping a risk to non-vapers? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!