Tag Archives: Chemistry

Why does everyone I know vape? Nicotine is why.

 Thousands of Canadians are becoming addicted to nicotine. There has recently been an increase in the popularity of nicotine products such as vapes, cigarettes, and nicotine pouches among young Canadians. 

Figure 1. Vape pen and Cigarette Source:Wikimedia

Many teens turn to vaping or nicotine pouches believing they are safer to consume than tobacco products but the truth is that they are all harmful. The nicotine in these tobacco-free products is extracted from tobacco giving it its addictive quality. Nicotine is an extremely addictive, fast-acting psychoactive chemical. It stimulates the release of adrenaline and dopamine. While nicotine is not generally the root cause of illness or death, its presence in all smoking products is what gets people addicted. The general public is becoming addicted to nicotine products at an alarming rate.

 

Figure 2. Chemical structure of Nicotine Source: Wikimedia

The rise in nicotine addiction in adolescents can be linked to the rise of vape usage. The Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine survey of 2021 concluded that almost half of all adults aged 20-24 reported using vape products at least once. Similarly, they found that 29% of youth aged 15 to 19 years of age had tried vape products. 

Figure 3. Vaping statistics among youth in Canada

 Nicotine has been proven to be especially harmful to developing adults. Since the brain has not fully developed until at least 25 years of age, any nicotine usage in adolescence can cause irreversible damage to it. In adolescents, nicotine particularly affects the prefrontal cortex which is the area of the brain that is responsible for executive functions and attention performance.  Nicotine has both short and long-term effects on the brain such as developing mood disorders and permanently lowering impulse control. 

This is a problem that must be addressed. Keeping Canadians away from nicotine is vital to their well-being.

-Oscar Caridad

The Gore-Tex Enigma

Gore-Tex is a highly versatile material that has garnered a lot of publicity in recent years.

It is a magical material in many respects. Water simply glides off it, leaving it bone dry. Being also very breathable and light, it is no surprise that it is the ideal material for water resistant clothing.

First invented in 1968 by Wilbert and Robert Gore, it is made of polytetrafluoroethylene, more commonly known as Teflon. Not the hard stuff though. It’s basically Teflon that has been stretched… a lot.

With the likes of Adidas and Nike incorporating it into their outdoor wear products, its worldwide use and popularity has called into question the manufacturing process and its environmental impacts.

Teflon is a very durable material that does not degrade easy and lasts for a long, long time. This is a good thing right? Well, yes… But what happens when that fifteen year old jacket you own is discarded or lost, and finds itself buried in the dirt outside an abandoned parking lot?

It persists. And doesn’t degrade. For centuries.

 

PFC’s or perfluorinated compounds are those that contain only carbon and fluorine atoms. Teflon is made from these compounds.

Chemical structure of Teflon: repeating units of carbon and fluorine atoms

The problem with PFC’s is that they tend to accumulate within our bodies and the environment. They are difficult to break down as they are quite unreactive.

A class action lawsuit at a DuPont Teflon plant found a very strong association between working with PFC’s and two types of cancer. Since then, many other studies have found a correlation between exposure to certain PFC’s and negative health outcomes.

To be clear, it isn’t the wearing of Gore-Tex products that is concerning. Also, not all PFC’s are harmful. However, the manufacturing process dispels many harmful PFC’s into the environment.

Gore-Tex jackets are also near impossible to recycle. They are made in complex ways, and the design process involves multiple layers, glues, and components.

Gore-Tex must not be completely written off though. Gore and company have assured investors and the public that they are stopping the use of many harmful PFC’s in their manufacturing process. However, the effects of this are yet to be seen.

There are also other, more intriguing applications of this remarkable material.

What is not talked about nearly enough is the role of Gore-Tex in medicine. It has shown to be ideal for use inside our bodies.

Being so unreactive, it allows the body’s cells and tissues to grow through it without any side effects. This makes it a viable material for many medical applications.

Like most technologies, Gore-Tex is complicated in many ways. Its strengths in one regard prove to be its downfall in another. It seems the jury is still out on this one

– Salik Rushdy