Dr
KK Aggarwal & Dr Rajesh Chawla
Vaping
is often considered synonymous with smoking. However, the two are not the same.
Smoking is a practice in which a substance is
burned and the resulting smoke breathed is absorbed into the
bloodstream. Most commonly, the dried leaves of the tobacco plant which
have been rolled into a small square of rice paper to create a small, round
cylinder called a "cigarette" are used. Smoking is
primarily practiced as a route of administration for recreational
drugs use.
Smoke is produced as a result of
combustion (temperature > 800 degree C). When combustion occurs, new
chemicals are formed via the process of oxidation. Hence, smoke contains
thousands of new chemicals different from those initially burned. When a
cigarette is smoked, there must be a fire to create the smoke.
Vaping is the act of inhaling and
exhaling a vapor or an aerosol. E-cigarettes do not
produce tobacco smoke, but an aerosol, which is commonly termed as “vapor” (1,
2).
Vapor: When a substance becomes gaseous, at a
temperature that is lower than its point of combustion (180-250 degree C),
it is considered as vapor. Unlike smoke, when vapor is produced, no new
chemicals are formed. The chemicals that are in vapor are the same as those
found in the vaporized substance.
The
chemicals that are in a liquid are the same chemicals that are found in the
vapor formed from the liquid. For instance, the e-liquid in e-cigarettes
includes propylene glycol, food grade flavoring, vegetable glycerin (also
called glycerol) and nicotine. All four of these chemicals are FDA approved for
human consumption. (3)
Steam
inhalation in medicine is also often advised as adjunctive treatment
and may help to alleviate symptoms of lung diseases. Steam inhalation is
nothing but the inhalation of water vapor.
Aerosol: Unlike vapor, which is simply a
substance in gas form, aerosols contain tiny chemical
particles. (4) In physics, a vapor is a substance in the gas phase,
whereas an aerosol is a suspension of tiny particles of liquid, solid or both
within a gas. Aerosol therefore is the state of the intermediate matter between
the liquid and the gaseous state. It is composed of particles, which are
neither as dispersed as the gas nor as concentrated as that of the liquid.
Nebulizers, both
jet and ultrasonic, also produce aerosols from the respective liquid.
Depending on the model, nebulizers generate droplets ranging in size from 1 µm
to 5 µm.
Inhalation aerosol therapy in
medicine uses bronchodilators and steroids as liquid particles suspended
for therapeutic purposes.
The
main point of difference of importance between smoke and
vapor or aerosol is the presence of toxic tar and carbon
monoxide in smoke. The smoke particulate matter, minus the water and
nicotine, forms the portion of smoke known as tar, which contains most of the
mutagenic and carcinogenic agents in tobacco smoke (5).
References
5. de Angelo
Calsaverini Leal RC. Inhalation devices: various forms of administration for
therapeutic optimization. Open J Asthma. 2017;1(1):037-044.
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma
Shri Awardee
President Elect Confederation of Medical
Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group
Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President
Heart Care Foundation of India
Immediate Past National President IMA
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