Recently a New York man underwent horrific injuries due to a seemingly
harmless vaping session. The
Albany native lost teeth, suffered burns on his mouth and hands, and was
left with a gaping hole through the middle of his tongue after his e-cigarette's
battery exploded without warning. Malfunctioning electronic cigarettes
aren't new. But with growing media exposure, is it time to start asking
whether this is a serious problem? While vaping—so far—appears
safer than smoking traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes do make use of
lithium batteries, which have the potential to cause great physical harm
when damaged. The problem usually arises when vapers mix and match e-cigarettes
with different batteries; charging lithium batteries with the incorrect
charger can be a recipe for disaster. If you use electronic cigarettes,
the best way to avoid any nasty surprises is to always, always use the
same batteries and charger that came with your device. One of the other
common ways e-cigarettes can be damaged is when the device comes into
contact with and rubs against coins in your pockets, which can destabilize
the battery. Vaping might not be 100% safe in every situation—but
neither is driving or walking down the street. If you do choose to vape,
at least do it as safely as possible.
#vapesafety #vapinginjury
