# Ok, I give up (Electronic Cigarettes) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451 "2011-09-16T00:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/1 "2011-09-16T00:21:39Z")
I don’t smoke, but I used to. I have been ‘clean’ for 20 years. I don’t mind smokers. They stink sometimes, and in a car, on a rainy day, the smoke can be a bit overwhelming, but normally, I’m cool with them…no smoking in my house, naturally, since I have a kid, but before I had a kid, I let folks smoke in my house no prob. All of that said, I know that many don’t like smoke and I don’t blame them. But why do some folks hate electronic cigarettes?? I really want to know. A few guys at my job were told that they had to stop smoking them because there had been complaints. I sat right next to one of them and smelled nothing. Now, I read the U.S. is seeking to [ban them](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-electronic-cigarette-20110915,0,7376977.story?track=icymi)on airplanes. The article doesn’t really make me understand why? Anyone have a problem with these things? ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/2 "2011-09-16T00:23:53Z")
Read this [link](http://cryptome.org/0005/dot091511.htm). From what I can tell, “an abundance of caution” from the 2nd hand fumes. But YMMV ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/3 "2011-09-16T14:05:27Z")
Fear of secondhand fumes would be my guess, as well. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/4 "2011-09-16T15:40:43Z")
Aren’t fumes the result of combustion? There is no combustion though. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/5 "2011-09-16T15:47:01Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Fear of secondhand fumes would be my guess, as well. If that’s the case then that’s some over-the-top paranoia. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/6 "2011-09-16T15:50:04Z")
I think it is the Christian based ethic that if tobacco is bad, something that gives you the same pleasure with none of the bad stuff must be bad because it feels good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/7 "2011-09-16T16:19:05Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Read this [link](http://cryptome.org/0005/dot091511.htm). From what I can tell, “an abundance of caution” from the 2nd hand fumes. But YMMV From the link: _“The principal liquid ingredient (in e-cigarettes) is propylene glycol, which is widely used as a moistening food additive and an aid to vaporization. However, some research, conducted on non-asthmatic people, has shown that exposure to propylene glycol mist from artificial smoke generators may cause acute ocular and upper airway irritation, and in a few cases people reacted with cough and slight airway obstruction. See G Wieslander, D Norb[auml]ck, and T Lindgren, `Experimental exposure to propylene glycol mist in aviation emergency training: Acute ocular and respiratory effects,'' Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2001; 58:649-655. Further, in a recent New England Journal of Medicine article, `E-Cigarette or Drug-Delivery Device? Regulating Novel Nicotine Products,‘’ it was noted that the safety of inhaling propylene glycol has not been studied in humans. 365;3: 193-95.”_ ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/8 "2011-09-16T16:42:15Z")
On an airplane, my guess is that it’s just easier to ban anything that looks like it’s giving off smoke so that the flight crew doesn’t have to check whether what you’ve got is an e-cig, a real cig or some nefarious thing that’s about to explode. It would theoretically be possible to use an e-cig in the lavatory, as there really is no smell or residue, but that would be illegal and I would never in a million years suggest that anyone do so. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/9 "2011-09-16T19:17:28Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > On an airplane, my guess is that it’s just easier to ban anything that looks like it’s giving off smoke so that the flight crew doesn’t have to check whether what you’ve got is an e-cig, a real cig or some nefarious thing that’s about to explode. It would theoretically be possible to use an e-cig in the lavatory, as there really is no smell or residue, but that would be illegal and I would never in a million years suggest that anyone do so. Ok, I can buy this explanation. Still not a good reason to ban the things, but I get it. I still don’t understand why the guys here at work can’t have theirs, though. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/10 "2011-09-16T19:23:19Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > but that would be illegal Really? It’s not actually smoking. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/11 "2011-09-16T19:54:40Z")
They are as obnoxious as hell. I don’t care how safe somebody claims them do be, I don’t like being around them. I appreciate when someone is trying to quit, but there are too many people out there who’ve been using them for over a year. That’s not quitting, that’s embracing your addiction. So my former patience with the users is gone. ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/12 "2011-09-16T20:08:26Z")
What exactly is obnoxious about them? I’ve never been around them - but they seem completely harmless to me. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/13 "2011-09-16T20:18:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > people out there who’ve been using them for over a year. That’s not quitting, that’s embracing your addiction. So my former patience with the users is gone. The recreational use of nicotine. Like alcohol or caffeine. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/14 "2011-09-16T20:18:02Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Aren’t fumes the result of combustion? There is no combustion though. “Fume” just means “smoke, vapor or gas, especially when irritating or offensive”, as far as I know. So a vapor would be a fume. I’ll change my sentence to “fear of secondhand vapor”, if it helps. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/15 "2011-09-16T20:22:36Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > “Fume” just means “smoke, vapor or gas, especially when irritating or offensive”, as far as I know. So a vapor would be a fume. It is water vapor. Like what comes out of the shower. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/16 "2011-09-16T21:30:13Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It is water vapor. Like what comes out of the shower. See post #7. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/17 "2011-09-16T21:52:43Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > See post #7. How Czarcastic! 🙂 Does anyone know it there is a chemical reaction when it vaporizes? That’s how one distills stuff. It would be interesting to exhale into a mass spectrometer. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/18 "2011-09-17T00:26:25Z")
I was on a plane once, where the older lady next to me got out her perfume\* and spritzed herself. Twice over the course of the two hour flight. And it’s not like she didn’t already smell of it from the start. If they’re going to ban e-cigarettes, they should ban applying perfume as well. - It wasn’t perfume where you put a drop or two on with a finger, but some kind of perfume water or something. It probably has some other name than perfume, but I’m not up on these things. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/19 "2011-09-17T00:48:54Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I was on a plane once, where the older lady next to me got out her perfume\* and spritzed herself. There are folks at work whom you can tell have driven by with rolled up windows by the smell of their cologne. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451/20 "2011-09-17T04:34:33Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I was on a plane once, where the older lady next to me got out her perfume\* and spritzed herself. Twice over the course of the two hour flight. And it’s not like she didn’t already smell of it from the start. I was seated near a woman who topped this - applying nailpolish remover. It takes a special type of moron to subject fellow passengers to acetone fumes in an enclosed space. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-i-give-up-electronic-cigarettes/596451.md?page=2)