The basic device contains three main parts – the battery, the tank/cartridge and the atomizer. The cartridge contains a mixture of Propylene Glycol and Vegetable Glycerin. It may or may not include nicotine. The mix is commonly referred to as “e-liquid”. As the user puffs on the device, a small amount of the e-liquid is drawn into the atomizer. The atomizer gently warms the e-liquid and produces a smoke-like vapor that primary consists of water. Depending on the size of the battery, the e-cigarette will last 3 to 48 hours between charges.
The atomizer is where all of the stuff happens in an e-cigarette. Inside the atomizer is a device called a bridge (a mesh of small wires that act as a heating component), a micro pump and a circuit board. When activated by a manual button signals are sent by the circuit board to pump the e-liquid to the bridge and activate the heating element. This results in the e-liquid vaporizing and creating what appears to be smoke, but is actually very similar to the fog that is created by theatrical fog machines. Both use vegetable glycerin.
Compare that too a traditional analog cigarette!
Traditional cigarettes contain tobacco that contains nicotine; the addictive ingredient that has kept you smoking. In order for the tobacco to stay lit, tobacco companies must lace the tobacco with additives. Burning tobacco produces heat and it is this heat that vaporizes the nicotine. Burning the tobacco leaf also vaporizes the resin (tar) and the plethora of chemicals that are either naturally present or added by the tobacco company. Herein lays the significant health issues with smoking tobacco. The tar that is produced by the combustion adheres and coats anything it comes into contact with, along with all those chemicals. If you have ever smoked for any length of time in a room or your car, you know what this tar coating looks like; a yellow brownish film.
