No one could have missed the phenomenon of e cigarettes. On every street, in shops, pubs and restaurants there are people sucking on the pen like objects. The jury is still out on whether they are better for the smoker s health than traditional cigarettes but they are undoubtedly very dangerous for our pets.

Electronic cigarettes are battery powdered devices that vapourise a liquid, which is then inhaled. The fluid is held in a small chamber in the middle of the device and is a mixture of glycerin (a colourless liquid), flavouring and nicotine in varying concentrations.

Nicotine is the substance which makes cigarettes so addictive but in the tiny quantities smokers inhale, it is not especially dangerous. It is the tar and other elements which are carcinogenic and this is why many people are opting for e cigarettes. However, in large doses nicotine it is extremely toxic and can even be deadly.

Many a curious pet, especially dogs and in particular puppies, have been caught chewing things they shouldn t. However, while gnawing on a pair of shoes won t damage their health (unless you catch them!), it is a very different story with e cigarettes.

The nicotine concentration in e cigarettes varies the lowest is 60mg of nicotine in total, while the highest can be as much as 240mg. The toxic dose for dogs is only 4mg/kg and the lethal dose is 9mg/kg. Therefore even the least potent will be harmful to all but the largest dogs and for the average sized pet, most could be lethal.

Symptoms of nicotine poisoning include vomiting, drooling, an increased heart rate and pale gums. These will progress to fitting, after which the dog can slip into a coma and die. It can take between 15 minutes and an hour an a half for these signs to appear, so even if your pet has chewed at your e cigarette and seems fine, you must seek veterinary advice immediately. Also, make sure you have the device or packaging close to hand so you can tell your vet approximately how much they have ingested.

It is vital that treatment for nicotine poisoning is started as soon as possible. Unfortunately there is no antidote, your vet can only support your pet s system while their liver detoxifies the poison. Therapies will include setting up an IV drip, using sedative medications to stop any fits and pumping out the stomach.

Nicotine poisoning has always occurred in dogs but with normal cigarettes, they would have to eat an awful lot and they would most likely be sick before all the toxin was absorbed. However, with the e cigarettes high concentration of pure nicotine, it s rapid absorption into the body and their increase in popularity, it is likely both vets and owners are going to see more problems. Therefore, it is important that we are all aware of the dangers this new phenomenon poses and remember to keep e cigarettes well out of the way of curious noses!

Cigarettes vs. e-cigarettes: which is less environmentally harmful? – news watch

Www.get-cheap-cigarettes.com 5/15/13

For Jon who says “You completely ignore getting to a smokefree society” and
Lisa who says “Why should bystanders have to choose the lesser of two evils when we can have no evil at all ?

WHAT DREAMERS!!

Until we get to a completely electrical society, furnished entirely by clean alternative energy sources this Utopia that you describe, can NEVER be realized!

Every breath that a person takes, contains the VERY SAME toxic chemicals that are found in cigarette smoke This material is pumped in some instances, BY THE TONS into the air, every day.

The Goverment and “so call HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS” would better spend their resources, trying to combat this isssue, but it can’t be stopped because the world runs on “Combustable energy”

For electricman who posted this link

This article is a farce it says absolutely nothing only a lot of maybe’s, possibly’s, could be’s, and other nothingness it appears to be published by the American Lung Association, who gets MAJOR funding from the pharmaceutical companies who make the “Stop Smoking” products that they tout on their website as the Only “Approved” way to quit smoking. See any conflicts of interest here????
They give NO LINK or information for the so called “Study” and it goes against YEARS of studies that show NO HARM from nicotine

For all who quote the worn out figures of “19% of the population dies from smoking” or “440,000 a year, die from smoking” (this figture equals approx. 18% of the population) Have you ever stopped to think that approx. 21 percent of the population (from around 2000 til now) smoke??? Let’s see 21 percent of the population smokes and 18% to 19% of the population die from smoking sounds almost proportional to me I say almost, but in detail, it means that the smoking population actually slightly outlives their non smoking counterparts.

For all who would say “well OK but smokers die miserable deaths” or “smokers have more chronic problems befor they die” this Surgeon Generals report, says differently looking at the figures, you will see that those who smoke a half pack or less a day actually have LESS chronic problems than non smokers do and those who smoke a pack a day have about the same (in some cases only SLIGHTLY MORE) chronic problems than non smokers do. It is only when you get above a pack a day, that th problems start No wonder it’s not published with all the rest of the Surgeon Generals’ reports!!!

We have been “hoodwinked” on the whole “Smoking/SHS” issue and this is the ONLY reason that electronic cigaretts exist.

With that said E Cigs have been instrumental in getting “Litterally” Millions of people to quit smoking, world wide because of that these people have become healthier and happier people aqnd have been able to move from the “Sub Class Smoker” to the position of “Normalcy” that they once held. They now don’t have to pay twice the taxes that “Normal” people do They now can get insurance, at the same price “Normal” people do, They now don’t have to live with the threat of children taken away, They can socialize like “Normal” people, Etc., Etc.

Whether they are better for the invironment, than cigarettes I can’t say for sure But for people thay are a “Win/Win”