A few months ago, my teacher put on a video demonstrating the difference between e-cigs and cigarettes. The experiment involved taking two jars full of cotton balls and pumping in the substance created by cigarettes into one, and the substance created by e-cigs into the other.

The end result? The cigarette container cotton balls were black and slimy and pretty much disgusting. The e-cig ones looked pretty much unchanged. The “scientists” (I’m using quotations because to call them scientists implies that they actually know something about science) concluded that since one looked dirty and the other didn’t, e-cigs must be perfectly safe for you to use, and much better than cigarettes!

Hmmm. Interesting. So, does that mean that drinking formaldehyde is better than drinking root beer? Because formaldehyde looks like water, so it must be better for me?

This may be a rather extreme example of faulty research on e-cigs vs cigarettes, but many people hold a similar idea; well, e-cigs aren’t as bad as cigarettes, so they must not be bad at all. Well, my friends, that’s not really true.

• More study needed

Let’s start at the beginning. The first thing to realize is that when you read articles or opinions stating that “most researchers and doctors agree that e-cigs are better than cigarettes,” it could be more accurately phrased, “most researchers and doctors agree that in the short term, e-cigs don’t have the long-term effects cigarettes do.”

E-cigs simply haven’t been around long enough for any researchers or doctors to really know the full impact of their use. One of the big problems with smoking cigarettes and using tobacco products is early death due to cancer, heart failure, lung disease, etc. The thing is, most of those problems can take decades before manifesting. So, doctors have no way of knowing if e-cigs will cause similar problems — because they’ve only been around for 11 years.

We can’t fully study the negative effects that make cigarettes so dangerous in e-cigs.

Another issue is that studies showing the risks of e-cig use compared to tobacco use standardized, “safe” e-cigs. The problem is that e-cigs currently have very little regulation in what they contain and the amounts of various chemicals in them. The FDA itself has admitted it needs to implement quality controls, and explain that any conclusions drawn about the health effects of e-cigs must be caveated because “ingredients vary so widely between brands.”

FDA inspectors also reported that none of the almost 60 different vape shops they visited had quality control programs, and yet they were still in compliance with current FDA regulations.

What does this mean? Well, for one thing, it means that manufacturers can put almost anything they want into e-cigs and they won’t be violating any rules. To then say that e-cigs are better than cigarettes becomes rather ridiculous, because we simply don’t know what’s even in the e-cigs. How can we say that they’re better?

To give an example of some of the things found in e-cigs, you need look no farther than the second paragraph of this article. Formaldehyde, you ask? Yes, I answer.

The stuff they preserve corpses with is often found in e-cigs. So is benzene, found in gasoline and pesticides; diethylene glycol, found in antifreeze; acetaldehyde, used to strip paint; cadmium, a toxic heavy metal used in car batteries; lead; nickel and the addictive nicotine — to name a few.

Many of these chemicals are known carcinogens, or cancer-causing toxins. And all of these chemcials are either not found in normal cigarettes or are found in far higher doses in e-cigs. One study states, “However, we still do not know the effects of inhaling heavy metal particles in aerosol on health.”

I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to know that inhaling toxic heavy metals in aerosol form is probably not good for you.

• Yummy flavors

Let us then turn to one of the other claims about e-cigs, which is that they help smokers quit. Most studies show no significant reduction in smoking for those who use e-cigs, while many report that those who vape are often more likely to continue or even start smoking.

Teens who use e-cigs fall into this category, being four times as likely to start using normal tobacco products if they start vaping. Those who quit cigarette smoking using e-cigs are more than eight times more likely to continue vaping than those who used other methods.

And lastly, perhaps the most controversial aspect of e-cigs is their flavoring. While teen smoking use continues to drop, the percentage of high schoolers who vaped doubled, reaching a staggering 20.8 percent. Bear in mind, it’s illegal for most of these kids to even buy e-cigs.

So why are they? Flavors. With tastes like watermelon, lemonade, mango, and even Fruit Loops, you can tell that e-cig flavors are targeting the younger generation. Interdepartmental memos in e-cig companies have even been discovered describing discussions on how to addict more teens.

Sixty-six percent of teen e-cig users think that the only thing e-cigs contain is the flavoring, with only 13.2 percent saying they knew the products have the addictive chemical nicotine in them.

E-cigs are the new cigarettes. They are what kids smoke in the parking lot, in their cars, even in class. The world is just starting to realize there’s an e-cig epidemic coming, and it’s becoming more important than ever that we become informed on what e-cigs really are.

McKenzie Leininger will be a senior this fall at Bonneville High School. She loves engineering, dogs and skiing. Email her at fiorgaoth@gmail.com.