For teens and children, vaping has additional risks
- nicotine negatively affects the developing brain
- the high exposure to nicotine and other toxic chemicals through vaping may be particularly harmful to kids because of their smaller body size
- the addictive potential of nicotine may mean that kids who vape are more likely to become cigarette smokers.
Does vaping really help to quit smoking?
Vaping really does appear to help people stop smoking better than old-style nicotine patches and gum. Quit rates were nearly twice as high in people who switched to e-cigarettes than in those who used other nicotine-replacement therapies in a recent trial.
Why vaping is a good alternative to smoking?
Vaping is the cultural phenomenon that became popular in the late 2000s, when tough anti-smoking campaigns made people more aware of the serious health risks posed by smoking tobacco. Vaporizers were billed as a great way to quit, and people took it up in their droves. Since then, e-cigarettes have been a fixture on the ]
Is vaping actually any healthier than smoking?
Several studies have shown that e-cigarettes contain similar toxic chemicals as regular cigarettes. Also, considering all the above information, we can’t say that vaping is healthier than smoking. The long term effects of vaping are not yet known, but science suggests that vaping is not a safe alternative.
Is vaping really a safe alternative to smoking?
Vaping doesn’t produce smoke and it does not contain tobacco. For these reasons alone, it is a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes can cause various types of cancer and other serious diseases. Vaping definitively lowers the risk of these diseases, although that isn’t to say that vaping is totally risk-free.
How many times do you smoke a cigarette with a pen?
The study, which appears in Pediatrics, found that participants using a pen-like e-cigarette device smoked 2.83 times as many cigarettes as those who had never used e-cigarettes. Participants who used a modifiable e-cigarette device (often called “mods”) smoked far more cigarettes — 8.38 times as many.
What are mods in vapes?
Mods have components that can be modified — such as the battery, temperature and power — which can change the relative amount of nicotine delivery and size of the vape cloud. Vape pens, however, generally deliver a consistent and often lower level of nicotine.
Do teens vape more than don't?
A USC study finds that teens who vape — especially those who use modifiable e-cigarette devices — end up smoking far more cigarettes than those who don’t.
What is vaping in teens?
Vaping involves breathing in an aerosol that contains several chemicals, including nicotine and flavoring, through an e-cigarette or other device. A 2018 survey found that vaping is growing in popularity among teenagers.
How many people died from vaping in 2020?
Trusted Source. , by early 2020, there had been a total of 2,807 hospitalizations or deaths from vaping. However, the CDC also acknowledge that since the removal of vitamin E acetate from vaping products, along with other harmful ingredients, the number of symptoms that people experience from vaping has declined.
What is the chemical in cannabis that produces a high?
THC is the chemical in cannabis that produces a high. According to a 2018 study. Trusted Source. that looked at infrequent cannabis smoking in adults, vaping THC produced stronger mind-altering effects than smoking a similar amount of weed.
Is vaping safer than smoking?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, vaping may be slightly less harmful than smoking. They note that a person who smokes inhales about 7,000 chemicals, whereas vaping likely involves a lower number of chemicals.
Is vaping dangerous?
Vaping also delivers several dangerous chemicals, including diacetyl, cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Vaping may normalize smoking again as it becomes more popular. , by early 2020, there had been a total of 2,807 hospitalizations or deaths from vaping.
Is vaping a good alternative to smoking?
Scientists do not fully understand the long-term health effects of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) yet, but the science indicates that they are not a safe alternative to smoking. Vaping involves breathing in an aerosol that contains several chemicals, including nicotine and flavoring, ...
Does vaping cause cancer?
Vaping can: damage the lungs. release free radicals into the body, which promote cancer development. weaken the immune system. delay brain development in fetuses, children, and teenagers. Future studies will likely show that vaping has additional long-term health effects that scientists have not yet discovered.
Introduction
The link between cigarette smoke and disease, particularly lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, is well known. Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
What Is NIEHS Doing?
Chemicals in cigarette smoke – An NIEHS-funded study revealed that acrolein, a substance that is abundant in cigarette smoke, irritates airways by creating free radicals, unstable molecules that can damage cells. 6
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Power Words
addiction (adj. addictive )The uncontrolled use of a habit-forming drug or uncontrolled and unhealthy habit (such as video game playing or phone texting). It results from an illness triggered by brain changes that occur after using some drugs or engaging in some extremely pleasurable activities.
Citations
Learn more about risks of vaping and e-cigarettes here from our collections landing page.
About Meghan Rosen
Meghan Rosen is a staff writer who reports on the life sciences for Science News. She earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis in biotechnology from the University of California, Davis, and later graduated from the science communication program at UC Santa Cruz.
About Janet Raloff
Janet Raloff is the Editor, Digital of Science News Explores. Prior to this, she was an environmental reporter for Science News, specializing in toxicology. To her never-ending surprise, her daughter became a toxicologist.
What Is Vaping?
It's when you use a handheld tube, or tank, attached to a mouthpiece that makes a vapor you inhale. There are different types, such as vape pens, e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, and mods. But they all heat liquid chemicals (“e-juice”) into a mist you breathe in like a cigarette or pipe.
Is Vaping Safe?
We don't know all the risks. But in the U.S., several people have died and hundreds had lung injuries linked to vaping. Many used marijuana products, but not all. Until we have the answers, the CDC says:
What's in the E-Liquid?
The FDA regulates e-liquids sold in stores, but not ones you buy on the street. The liquid, or "e-juice" can contain marijuana or other drugs. But nicotine, which is known to be addictive, is the most common active ingredient. The liquid has other chemicals that may be dangerous.
Flavoring
Some e-juice is flavored. Even without nicotine, these flavorings can cause DNA damage or kill cells that line your blood vessels. One study showed that cinnamon and menthol flavors were especially harmful. Young people may be drawn to vaping by sweet, candy-like flavors and smells. To help stop this, several U.S.
Toxic Metals: Surprising Byproduct
Besides chemicals, researchers have found levels of metals in e-cig vapor that may not be safe. These include lead, chromium, and nickel, as well as the metal-like element arsenic. Studies suggest that most of these metals are released by the coils inside the device that heat the liquid.
Nicotine and Your Body
Nicotine in e-liquid goes quickly from your lungs to your bloodstream. It causes your body to release adrenaline, a hormone that raises your pulse, blood pressure, and breathing rate. This could play a role in raising your heart attack odds. You may also feel more alert and need to cough.
Is Vaping Addictive?
Nicotine is highly addictive. So you're likely to get hooked if you vape regularly. Young people are especially at risk of becoming addicted. Because their brains are growing so quickly, new habits take root very fast, and they "learn" to be dependent easily. Nicotine can also wire the brain for addiction to other drugs, like cocaine and alcohol.
How effective is vaping for smoking?
Some studies have suggested that e-cigarette use can be modestly helpful for smokers trying to quit. For example, an analysis of 61 studiesfound that e-cigarette use was more effective than other approaches to quitting smoking. The study authors estimated that out of every 100 people who tried to quit smoking by vaping, nine to 14 might be successful. When only using other methods, such as nicotine patches or behavioral counselling, only four to seven smokers out of 100 might quit. A separate study suggests vaping may help smokers who aren’t able to quit reduce the number of cigarettes smoked per day— at least for six months, the duration of the study.
How many people in the US are vaping?
It’s not surprising: e-cigarette use, or vaping, has become remarkably popular in recent years. About 6% of adults in the US now report vaping. That’s about 15 million people, double the number from just three years ago. Of course, regular cigarettes are known to cause cancer and a host of other health problems.
How many people died from e-cigarettes in 2019?
Severe, potentially fatal lung injury. In 2019, doctors began seeing people who had recently vaped and developed shortness of breath, cough, fever, and extensive lung damage. Dubbed EVALI(e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury), more than 2,800 cases and 68 deaths were reported. The condition has been linked to vapors containing THC and a form of vitamin E (called vitamin E acetate) used as a thickening agent when vaping THC. Cases have fallen markedly since 2020. Possibly because of falling case numbers, the FDA announcement of new vaping products didn’t even mention EVALI, which seems odd. If you do vape, see these recommendationsto reduce the risk of EVALI.
How old do you have to be to vape?
An alarming number of middle-school and high-school age kidsreport vaping, despite the nationwide prohibition against selling e-cigarette products to anyone under age 18 (21 in some states). Its popularity is partly related to the marketing of flavors known to appeal to minors, such as bubblegum and berry-flavored products. According to one national survey, approximately 85% of teen vaping involved non-tobacco flavored products.
Is vaping safer than smoking cigarettes?
Despite claims that vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes and that it might help smokers quit, concern about its risks is well deserved.
Is vaping safe?
While considered less harmful than smoking tobacco, vaping is not risk-free, so the FDA’s recent announcement authorizing sales of new vaping products was surprising. Some research suggests e-cigarettes may help some people quit or cut back on smoking, but there are many concerns about their known and potential ...
Is e-cigarette safer than smoking?
I note that the data concerning the relative safety of e-cig over smoking cannot be categorzed as ‘seemingly’ safer than smoking – the data is varied and robust – the health risks are on the order of 3% those of smoking. I also note that Nicotine has limited health effects, comparable to caffeine. Finally, I note that Harvard has had numerous ethical issues related to funds from drug companies (see E.G – https://www.propublica.org/article/pharma-ties-at-harvard-medical-school), and suggest that the support of Big Pharma’s expensive smoking cessation drugs (not shown to be more effective than placebo) relates more to those ethical issues than any public health concerns
What is a vape pen?
With vaping, a device (typically a vape pen or a mod — an enhanced vape pen — that may look like a flash drive) heats up a liquid ( called vape juice or e -liquid) until it turns into a vapor that you inhale. “Vaping is a delivery system similar to a nebulizer, which people with asthma or other lung conditions may be familiar with,” says Broderick. ...
What is the food additive used to deepen e-cigarette flavors?
Diacetyl: This food additive, used to deepen e-cigarette flavors, is known to damage small passageways in the lungs.
What happens if you inhale diacetyl?
Diacetyl is frequently added to flavored e-liquid to enhance the taste. Inhaling diacetyl causes inflammation and may lead to permanent scarring in the smallest branches of the airways — popcorn lung — which makes breathing difficult. Popcorn lung has no lasting treatment. There are, however, treatments that manage BO symptoms, such as: 1 Coughing 2 Wheezing 3 Chest pain 4 Shortness of breath
What is the chemical that can damage your lungs?
Acrolein: Most often used as a weed killer, this chemical can also damage lungs.
Is second hand vapor safe?
Secondhand Vapor Isn’t Safe Either. It’s a myth that secondhand emissions from e-cigarettes are harmless. Many people think the secondhand vapor is just water, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. The vapor emitted when someone exhales contains a variety of dangerous substances, which may include: Nicotine.
Does vaping affect the lungs?
Instead of bathing lung tissue with a therapeutic mist, just as a nebulizer does, vaping coats lungs with potentially harmful chemicals. E-liquid concoctions usually include some mix of flavorings, aromatic additives and nicotine or THC (the chemical in marijuana that causes psychological effects), dissolved in an oily liquid base.
Are e-cigs a gateway to cigarette consumption for teens?
A larger percentage of vapes and e-liquids contain nicotine, the addictive component of tobacco. In most parts of the world, e-cigarettes are classified as tobacco products and controlled accordingly. Teens have such a “mediocre” knowledge of vapes and related products.
Vaping: Is It Safe? Or Just Safer Than Smoking?
Over the years, owing to public health concerns and government regulations, the tobacco industry has endeavored to find methods to make regular cigarettes less harmful. Some of the past changes – like the inclusion of filters and making of “light” cigarettes – have been an illusion in reducing the harm.
Health effects of vaping for teens
The teenage period is important for brain development that spans even into young adulthood. Teens who abuse nicotine and related products in whatever form, either through vaping or smoking, are peculiarly at risk of long-term effects.
