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Comment by MrMember | Hacker News Reader

>My question would be, what's the effect to people around you when you smoke one? Is it a stench?

I found this (pdf warning):

http://www.healthnz.co.nz/RuyanCartridgeReport30-Oct-08.pdf

"Inhaled nicotine in cigarette smoke is over 98% absorbed, and so the exhaled mist of the e-cigarette is composed of propylene glycol, and probably contains almost no nicotine; and no CO."

It's also completely odorless.

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From the wikipedia page about fog machines[1]: "Short term exposure to glycol fog can be associated with headaches, dizziness, drowsiness and tiredness. Long term exposure to smoke and fog can be related to upper airway and voice symptoms. Extended (multi-year) exposure to smoke and fog has been associated with both short-term and long-term respiratory health problems."

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_machine

I would wonder if this isn't caused by the fact that it's difficult to breathe something that isn't the fog when you're in an area with a fog machine. I don't know any smokers who don't take a breath of fresh air when they're smoking, or e-cig users who don't do the same. In a room with a fog machine going, there may not be any fresh air to breathe.

To be clear; most liquids are not really odorless, but the odor is not inherent to ecig vapor. It's the odor of the flavoring used, so fruit-flavored liquid will smell like fruit-flavored air freshener.

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