The answer is yes, if you want a simple answer to the question in the title. It probably isn't as cut and dried as that. The jury is out to a certain extent about how much safer electronic cigarettes are. My research indicates that some toxins are in the vapour that is given off by electronic cigarettes and of course they contain nicotine. However, I read that there are 4,000 toxic chemicals in a standard cigarette so pretty well anything is better than that in respect of one's health.
I read that chemicals such as propylene glycol, glycerin and nitrosamines are in the vapour together with traces of cadmium, nickel and lead but as far as I can tell they are in very small doses. The advocates say they are harmless.
Note: Cats are said to be sensitive to propylene glycol (PG). It affect red blood cells. It can cause Heinz body anemia.
Electronic cigarettes are a current business phenomenon in some respects and the market is worth $2,000,000,000 and climbing. The actual electronic cigarette itself is quite a sexy looking object these days so there's probably a market in the actual item itself forgetting about what it produces and the pleasure it gives.
My reading of the current situation is also that despite studies about the health benefits of electronic cigarettes there is more work to be done to find out exactly what is going on and whether passive smoking can be ignored if a person is using an electronic cigarette.
At the moment 150 municipalities in the USA have banned what is described as "vaping" in public places. Some states have banned them in workplaces but there are far fewer bans in workplaces of the electronic cigarette then there are of conventional cigarettes. Should e-cigs be banned from workplaces? People aren't sure, if you want an honest answer.
It seems to me, that there is a wavering amongst the authorities as to whether electronic cigarettes are safe to non-smokers in public places.
Of course, the question in the title does also beg another question which is: are conventional tobacco cigarettes that hazardous at home to a domestic cat in the respect of passive smoking? There are certainly health risks and I've posted about that on the main website and here. The question is how great are these risks? They probably aren't that severe but, that said, cigarette smoke or electronic cigarette vapour at home is just another possible airborne allergen.
You don't want to increase the possibility of your cat being in contact with potential allergens (cat allergies are hard to diagnose and distressing to a cat). There are enough of them already in the home sometimes from invisible sources such as furniture and carpets. There's lots of chemicals in household products all of which can be potentially hazardous to the health of a domestic cat.
I think, though, that we have to but some balance into the discussion about passive smoking, which is the point that a colleague of mine, Marc, makes in a comment on another website.
Smoking has been around since the year dot and it gives pleasure to people. Pretty well everything that gives pleasure carries some sort of hazard or downside with it so we have to balance the downsides and the upsides when we discuss such things as passive smoking from electronic cigarettes.
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