Electronic cigarettes and your car's radiator: what they DON'T have in common.
In recent articles about electronic or e-cigarettes, reporters tie the chemical propylene glycol – a main ingredient in the devices – to products such as antifreeze and hand sanitizers. Although accurate, the statements are unintentionally misleading and do not productively contribute to the debate on the health implications of e-cigarettes.
During the past month, articles in some rather prominent publications have reported on the implications of the increased popularity of e-cigarettes. These products use an atomizer to suspend nicotine in tiny particles of propylene glycol. The suspension is then inhaled.
The purported benefit of e-cigarettes is that they do not burn, so no smoke is inhaled by the user or by others nearby. Hence the other name for these products: smokeless cigarettes.
However, there are some as yet unanswered questions about whether propylene glycol is safe if frequently inhaled. In an effort to help readers put common uses of propylene glycol in context, reporters often mention other commercial products in which it is found.
In a June 2 Wall Street Journal article, reporter Lauren Etter says that propylene glycol is “a common article used in hand sanitizers.” In a New York Times article on the same day, reporter Katie Zemia states that it “is used in antifreeze, and also to create artificial smoke or fog in theatrical productions.” Meanwhile in a Time article on June 24, Kathleen Kingsbury reiterates that “propylene glycol is also used in antifreeze.”
While all of these are technically correct, only Katie Zemia goes on to put propylene glycol in perspective by commenting that it is “an additive that is ‘generally recognized as safe’ for use in food.” This is true. When it is swallowed, propylene glycol has an impressive safety record, whether exposure occurs one time or repeatedly. It is commonly found in numerous food products as its chemical properties are very useful for retaining moisture and allowing ingredients to mix.
Propylene glycol is found in antifreeze, but not in the typical automotive antifreeze that immediately comes to mind. The ingredient in automotive antifreeze is ethylene glycol, a much different ingredient that is very harmful to the kidneys. Although propylene glycol-based antifreeze can also be used in automobiles, it is more commonly used for winterizing plumbing in recreational vehicles, boats and vacation homes and is inherently much safer than ethylene glycol-based antifreeze.
Propylene glycol is found in hand sanitizers, but not as an ingredient that kills germs. Instead, it helps retain moisture in the product. After all, most consumers do not want to use a sticky hand sanitizer.
However, when reporters draw these associations, they help foster inaccurate conclusions in their readers’ minds. When readers see that it is used in antifreeze, which most people know is inherently dangerous, they conclude that such an ingredient cannot be safe in e-cigarettes.
In reality, it is not known whether propylene glycol is safe when inhaled. That determination is now in the hands of the Food and Drug Administration, given that the agency now regulates tobacco and nicotine. However, it is best to try to limit misperceptions created in the mind of the public as the topic is further explored.
