When you place a tobacco cigarette and an electronic cigarette side by side, you might not be able to tell the difference. An e-cigarette looks, acts, and feels the same as a traditional tobacco cigarette, but they are also very different. A regular cigarette is lit up by a source of fire so that the tobacco burns and is inhaled by the smoker. On the other hand, an e-cigarette is "lit" up by charging its batteries, placing a cartridge that contains a nicotine fluid solution, and is then "smoked" by the smoker. Very different indeed.

Much to the recent success of the e-cigarette, it seems that it has also attracted some bad publicity, and proponents of the e-cigarette are wondering why. After all, it doesn't emit smoke like a traditional cigarette and can be used in public without harming anyone with second-hand smoke. Since it is battery-powered, you don't have to worry about setting your house on fire or burning a hole in your couch. There is no lingering odor and it replicates the smoking experience. So what is bad about them?

Opponents of the e cigarette are arguing that there is not enough scientific research to verify that it is safe to smoke. Opponents were quick to say that the e-cigarette is not a smoking cessation device and that the liquid solution might not be very safe. As of now, the known ingredients of the liquid solution, or e-liquid as the industry calls them, are water, a tobacco or other flavor and scent, propylene glycol, and nicotine. Apparently, these ingredients have been tested for their toxicity elsewhere but not here in the U.S. and not for long-term use. The only questionable ingredient is propylene glycol, which is used in the very foods that we eat, including cake mixes.

Now, consider this: The five major cigarette companies in America finally submitted a list of additives that were being used to manufacture their cigarettes back in 1994. There are about 559 [potentially toxic] additives that our very own U.S. government has approved in the manufacturing of tobacco cigarettes and yet these products are not banned.

There are over 4000 chemicals and 400 different toxins in each and every cigarette. When a cigarette is burning, many of these chemicals and toxins, if not all, become even more toxic in some way, shape, or form when it is inhaled. Some of the most common chemicals you might have come across - and know are bad for you - are hydrogen cyanide, which was actually used during World War II and in pesticides to help exterminate vermin, ammonia, carbon monoxide, which is what is emitted from our car's exhaust, acetic acid, formaldehyde, various nitrogen oxides, and a huge list of other chemicals that you would not ingest otherwise.

In addition, smoking a cigarette does not only involve inhaling a few thousand toxins into your system, but it also involves inhaling tar, the very same stuff you see being applied onto the streets by road workers. Cadmium, which can be found in batteries, can also be found in cigarettes and has been linked to kidney damage.

You do the math.

e cigarettes