eCigarettes and the Health of the Actor

The New York Times reported today that the FDA is finally going to begin regulating eCigarettes. From a health and safety standpoint, eCigs seem like a better solution than real cigarettes, be they tobacco or herbal. I have always been bothered by the lack of health data on eCigs and subsequently have limited use to the zero nicotine cartridges. It seemed like the biggest hazard has been from exploding batteries and the brand used in our theatre has an overheat switch that shuts off the battery if more than seven seconds of load is placed on it. A deliberate choice to limit the amount of risk.

On the up side, an eCig has no flame and an actor can sell the act of lighting a cigarette with an empty Zippo. Also, the current audience member has become so accustomed to smoke-free indoor environments that the smell of a cigarette elicits a negative reaction. On the down side, we are asking an actor to ingest something that has no objective data declaring it either safe or unsafe.