Nicotine-free Trojan horse. These products are dangerous especially for children and teenagers

- There is indeed some potential in them to tame something bad. It's a bit like the champagne for children produced by alcohol manufacturers. It works on the principle that you release a product that will tame kids and teenagers with something more serious," assesses Professor Lukasz Balwicki, head of the Department of Public Health and Social Medicine at the Medical University of Gdansk. - I am absolutely against allowing this type of product, because it tames nicotine products, which such a young person may reach for later. Later, when the e-cigarette breaks down, for example, the next step may already be a traditional cigarette. Although these products do not contain nicotine, it can be said that they normalize smoking some products or inhaling some substances, which, no matter how purified, are always toxic to the body. We should not inhale anything but clean air," stresses Professor Lukasz Balwicki. The importance of nicotine-free disposable products in initiating nicotine addiction is a problem that psychologists also point out. According to Magdalena Cedzynska, they act as a Trojan horse, because children can easily get them and there is no mention of potential dangers - after all, they do not contain addictive nicotine. Although it is also worth mentioning that studies have shown that even e-cigarettes supposedly containing no nicotine contain traces of it.

- In addictions, there is talk of the so-called transition effect or gate effect. It shows us that those who start with a certain product easily switch to others later. Children are very likely to switch from an electronic cigarette to a traditional cigarette. As for nicotine-free cigarettes, they are dangerous insofar as they develop a certain habit. Children get used to them because they are tasty and look nice. There is already the first evidence that those who reach for them, over time, start smoking electronic cigarettes with nicotine, which seem to them to be nothing scary. Unfortunately, the smaller things pave the way for the bigger ones. To start with electronic cigarettes, whether with or without nicotine, is to begin the process of addiction, with all its consequences, the psychologist stresses. Experts stress that we forget that it is not only nicotine that is dangerous in cigarettes and e-cigarettes. It is a cardiotoxic substance and harmful especially to the developing brain. However, what the user inhales in the aerosol is also dangerous. - It's a bit like a traditional cigarette, where it's not the nicotine that's most dangerous, but the smoke, which contains thousands of chemical compounds. The aerosol from e-cigarettes contains products formed when flavorings or propylene glycol are heated to 200-300 degrees. Even if these chemicals are less than in a traditional cigarette, remember that less does not at all mean safe. There are substances such as heavy metals, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde or benzene. These have proven cardio- and pneumotoxic effects. There are also an increasing number of publications about negative effects in the form of damage to the oral mucosa," adds Magdalena Cedzynska. Data published in a report by the Institute for Economic Forecasting and Analysis shows that the first disposable, flavored e-cigarettes were registered in Poland in 2018. At that time, the Bureau of Chemical Substances authorized 18 types of disposable e-cigarettes. In the following years, rapid growth was recorded. In 2022 alone, nearly 2,300 of them (both nicotine and nicotine-free - ed. note) were registered. This represents an almost 127-fold increase compared to 2018.