Is vaping harmful?
Vaping has become increasingly popular, especially in young adults and people looking to stop smoking. But is it safe? Here, I explain what vaping is, whether it’s safer than smoking, and how it could affect your health.
What is vaping?
Vaping is when you inhale nicotine as a water-based vapour. This vapour is created by an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) or another vaping device. There are different names for vaping devices, such as:
- vape pens
- vapes
- cigalikes
- tanks
- mods
Vapes usually contain nicotine, but they don’t contain tobacco.
Is vaping safer than smoking?
All experts agree that not smoking or vaping at all is the safest option. But if you smoke, switching to vaping, or using vaping to help you quit, is much less harmful than continuing to smoke tobacco cigarettes.
Tobacco cigarettes produce smoke that contains thousands of chemicals. Some of these chemicals cause cancer. But most of these harmful chemicals aren’t found in vapes. Vaping doesn’t burn tobacco or produce smoke. Vapes produce vapour, instead of smoke, through the heating of liquids that contain nicotine.
Most vaping devices contain nicotine, which is addictive. So, if you’ve never smoked or are under 18, it’s best not to use them. But if you currently smoke and would like to quit, vaping may help. Research has shown that they might even be more effective than other nicotine-replacement therapies.
What does vaping do to your lungs?
Because vapes are still quite new, we don’t know much yet about the long-term effects of using them. So, vaping is not risk-free.
You might have heard of ‘popcorn lung’ (bronchiolitis obliterans). This is the name given to a rare type of lung disease caused by inhaling a chemical called diacetyl. But in the UK, we have some of the strictest regulations for e-cigarettes in the world. Diacetyl has been banned from e-cigarettes and vaping devices since 2016. There have been no confirmed cases of popcorn lung caused by vapes in the UK.
Are vaping devices medically licensed?
The Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates medicinal products containing nicotine in the UK,. This includes e-cigarettes, because they can help with nicotine withdrawal symptoms when quitting smoking. Currently, there are no medically licensed vaping (e-cigarette) products available in the UK.
MHRA regulations also control the volume and strength of refills. This is important because it means you know just how much nicotine you’re using.
Can my GP prescribe me a vaping device?
Your GP can’t prescribe you a vaping device because they’re not medically licensed. But they can prescribe other nicotine replacement therapies, such as nicotine:
- patches
- gums
- inhalers
There’s more long-term safety data for these products, as they have been around for longer.
Is it safe to vape around my family?
It’s harmful for other people to breathe in tobacco smoke produced by cigarettes. This is called passive smoking. It can increase their risk of conditions such as lung and heart problems and cancer.
Smoking tobacco is also known to contribute to cot death and underweight babies. It’s important that you stop smoking if you’re pregnant. There are fewer ingredients in e-cigarettes and at much lower levels.
Currently, experts think that second-hand vaping (passive vaping) is unlikely to be harmful. They also think it’s better than second-hand tobacco smoke.
But because vapes are still relatively new, we can’t be sure there aren’t any long-term adverse effects. Although vapes don’t contain tobacco, there’s no evidence to confirm it’s safe to vape during pregnancy, either. The safest option for you and your baby is to stop smoking entirely.
Have there been vaping accidents?
Some young children being poisoned from drinking e-liquids. So, it’s important to make sure you store your e-cigarettes well away from children, as you would household cleaning products.
There have also been a few cases of e-cigarettes catching fire or exploding. But this is much less common than fires caused by tobacco smoking.
So…to vape or not to vape?
Because vaping devices are relatively new products, we don’t yet know their long-term impact. And no medically licensed vaping products are currently available in the UK. But research so far indicates that vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco. It can also help you to stop smoking.
For the best chance of quitting for good, get advice from your GP or pharmacist or use your local Stop Smoking Service.
Are you interested in learning more about your health? Discover more about our range of health assessments.
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Sources Sources
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