Electronic cigarettes, often called smokeless cigarettes or simply E cigs were developed and introduced to the market around 2005 or 06, since then they have become increasingly popular not only because of their health benefits but because they can be used anywhere including indoor public areas where real cigarettes are banned. Basically they are a battery that uses E cig cartomizers to convert a form of liquid nicotine, often flavored, into a mist or vapor which is then inhaled by the user. There is no fire, no smoke, no ash and no odor; these devices are not offensive to anyone and from the users point of view he or she is not taking in carbon dioxide, tar and the hundreds of other cancer causing chemicals associated with tobacco.
When a smoker lights a real cigarette the tobacco burns, the smoke that is released contains nicotine and is drawn into the lungs of the smoker. An electronic cigarette does not work this way, it heats up liquid nicotine using E cig cartomizers; it is this action that then delivers a vapor to the lungs of the smoker.
A typical E Cig has only three components; the rechargeable battery, the cartomizer and a cartridge full of the liquid. The battery is imbedded in the barrel of the device; it is connected to the vaporization chamber which contains the atomizer or cartomizer which is the component that vaporizes the liquid, one drop at a time.
To activate the device the user simply draws in the same way he or she would draw on a real cigarette. It is the movement of air that activates the cartomizer which heats one drop of liquid and converts it into a vapor. When the vapor is inhaled, the nicotine is delivered. When the vapor is exhaled it looks very much like real smoke but it is odorless and non toxic.
One of the features that users enjoy most is the fact that fulfills many of the same sensations that cigarette smoking does. The user keeps his hands occupied; there is the sensation of inhaling and exhaling and the delivery of nicotine. Many of the electronic cigarettes on the market have a light which glows red at the tip when the user draws on it, simulating the glow of a real cigarette.
