Vaping is not safe and is harmful to health, WHO says, both for users and bystanders
- UN agency report says there is clear evidence e-cigarettes are dangerous, but not that they help smokers quit
- It demands tight regulation of the products, including bans on marketing to young people and on use in indoor workplaces and public spaces
What are the risks of vaping?
Studies have revealed that the aerosols from vaping contain potentially harmful metals, carbonyls, nicotine, organic volatile compounds and particulate matter. In addition to the above risks associated with vaping, nicotine in any delivery format is a highly addictive substance.
Are e-cigarettes safe for bystanders?
In Public Health England’s updated 2018 evidence review, the agency’s experts analyzed several new studies of passive exposure that had been published since the original 2015 PHE e-cig report. They concluded-again-that “to date there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.”
Is secondhand vaping harmful?
But there’s not much nicotine left in the settled residue. According to a 2016 University of California-San Francisco study, 93.8 percent of the inhaled nicotine is retained by the user, and is not part of the exhaled vapor. Even if secondhand vaping can’t be proven harmful to others, the concerns of family and friends need to be respected.
Are teens more at risk for vaping?
With more teens than ever now vaping, it seems like the younger folks who are more at risk. A third of high-schoolers and middle-schoolers reported that they were exposed to vaping aerosol in 2018. The Surgeon General reported last year that e-cigarette use among young people qualifies as an epidemic.
What is the aerosol from vaping?
Why should we include vaping in smoke free policies?
What is an e-cigarette?
Where does vaping come from?
Why is there no regulation for e-cigarettes?
What are the toxins in e-cigarettes?
Where is e-cigarette use prevalent?
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Health Risks Of Vaping: Let's Stick To The Science And Speculate Less
A growing body of evidence gathered over the last 15 years has shown that using an electronic cigarette ("vaping") is probably far safer than smoking and likely to help smokers quit their deadly habit forever. Certain segments of the public health establishment have reacted oddly to these results—they've ignored them and treated vaping as a serious threat.
How dangerous is vaping?
Vaping is not safe and is harmful to health, WHO says, both for users and bystanders 1 UN agency report says there is clear evidence e-cigarettes are dangerous, but not that they help smokers quit 2 It demands tight regulation of the products, including bans on marketing to young people and on use in indoor workplaces and public spaces
Do e-cigarettes keep teens away?
At the same time, there is little indication that using e-cigarettes is keeping teens away from more harmful products, with the WHO pointing out that those using Ends are more likely to end up smoking conventional cigarettes.
Why is vaping so popular among teens?
First publicized as a safer alternative to smoking tobacco, vaping caught on because it didn't contain the carcinogens or tars found in most smoking tobacco products. Also, vaping was supposed to eliminate the dangers of secondhand smoke to those nearby.
How long does a vape last?
Did you know most cigarettes are smoked within two to five minutes? E-cigarettes on the other hand can last up to 20 minutes, delivering more nicotine and damaging chemicals to the lungs. In addition, some vaping mixtures can contain 20 times the nicotine that a single cigarette contains.
What is an e-cigarette?
E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat a liquid solution — usually, but not always, containing nicotine — turning it into a vapor that can be inhaled . If the base nicotine mixture is not palatable, many flavors, such as mint, apple and others, can make vaping attractive, especially to adolescents.
Why is vaping so difficult?
This is due to the difficulty in correctly identifying what they inhaled, especially when they are intubated or unconscious.
What is Project for Teens?
Project for Teens is an example of a local outreach program that provides support and education on the dangers of vaping. Similar programs may be available in your area. Resources are available to help teens quit through the American Lung Association and teen.smokefree.gov.
How to help a teenager who is vaping?
Encourage your teen to look into the warnings and media stories related to vaping, or reach out to his or her primary care provider with questions.
How to tell if a child is vaping?
Talk with your kids about the dangers of vaping, but also look for warning signs including: 1 Changes in emotions 2 Trouble sleeping 3 Scents of fruity odors on skin, breath and clothes 4 Strange cylinders, chargers or batteries lying around
What is secondhand vaping?
Secondhand vaping is exactly what it sounds like: if you're near a person breathing out vapor from an e-cigarette, you generally breathe in the same air that they're exhaling and can inhale the same vapor.
Can second hand vaping cause respiratory irritation?
Those with pre-existing lung or breathing conditions are also at a greater risk: If you have asthma or a related condition, the effects of secondhand vaping may be heightened. The aerosol in vapor can cause throat and respiratory irritation, so if you're already feeling a little sick or have a sore throat, you could feel much worse.
What to do if someone uses e-cigarettes?
If someone close to you, like a parent, caretaker or coworker, uses e-cigarettes, you can kindly ask them to stop while you're around. Frame it as a way to protect both your health and theirs, and hopefully they'll respect your wishes.
Why is it harder for teens to remove themselves from social situations?
Teenagers are typically much more impressionable to peer pressure than their older counterparts, so it's harder for many of them to remove themselves from social situations that pose a health risk. Personally, I was already so embarrassed by just being in middle school that I can't imagine speaking up if I saw someone using an e-cigarette.
Is vaping a health risk?
E-cigarettes can emit a huge cloud of vapor that can affect an entire crowd of people. Getty Images. When vaping first gained popularity, it was marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. However, a recent surge in illnesses, hospitalizations -- and even deaths -- has shown that there may be much scarier health risks associated ...
Does vaping harm the lungs?
The vapor can also harm bystanders ' lungs and contribute to lasting damage ...
Does vapor contain nicotine?
Another study from 2018 found that the vapor not only contains nicotine, but also heavy metals, aldehyde and glycerin, even though vaporizer companies try to paint these products as healthier in every way. These chemicals contribute to the health risk posed by secondhand vaping.
How many cigarettes are in an e-cigarette cartridge?
E-cigarettes have a higher concentration of nicotine. A single Juul, one of the most commonly sold e-cigarettes, cartridge can have as much nicotine as 20 cigarettes making them much more addictive. A cartridge usually lasts about 200 puffs, the equivalent to a pack of cigarettes.
What is an e-cigarette?
E-cigarettes — also called vape pens, tank systems and mods — are battery-operated devices that heat up a cartridge containing a liquid and then turns it into an aerosol that users inhale. The liquid typically has flavoring, additives and the same addictive nicotine found in cigarettes.
Do e-cigarettes have long term effects?
They come in far more easily.”. Because e-cigarettes are still fairly new, the available research on long-term effects of e-cigarette use is limited, Chester said. “The research that is available shows detrimental effects to people’s health.”. There is a concern, he added, that e-cigarettes can cause the same amount of damage as cigarettes, ...
Can second hand smoke cause a lung infection?
Bystanders breathing in secondhand e-cigarette smoke run the risk of breathing in heavy metals, dangerous chemical compounds and ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, Chester said. Even with secondhand smoke, the vapor is getting into bystanders' lungs and that can cause future infections, Smart said.
Is it safe to smoke e-cigarettes?
While e-cigarettes contain different compounds than cigarettes, Chester said, it doesn’t mean they are safer. One ingredient, propylene glycol, (largely responsible for making users’ breath look like a cloud of mist) is found in fog machines used at concerts and has been linked to chronic lung problems among stagehands.
Can e-cigarettes harm the brain?
Studies have shown that e-cigarette use has acted as a gateway substance to other forms of tobacco, alcohol and other substances. “Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control,” Chester said.
Is it legal to smoke e-cigarettes in North Carolina?
In North Carolina, it’s illegal for people under 18 to use e-cigarettes. But as the case with tobacco, teens find a way around the age requirements and still get their hands on e-cigarettes.
What are vaping devices?
Vaping devices, also known as e-cigarettes, vape pens, and e-hookahs among other terms, come in many shapes and sizes. Some look like traditional cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Others are shaped like every-day objects, such as pens or USB memory sticks.
What chemicals are in vaping?
Vaping exposes the lungs to a variety of chemicals. These may include the main active chemicals in tobacco (nicotine) or marijuana (THC), flavorants, and other ingredients that are added to vaping liquids. Plus, other chemicals can be produced during the vaporizing process.
How old do you have to be to vape?
New laws are aimed at curbing vaping among teens. People must now be 21 to buy any tobacco product, including vaping products. And companies can no longer produce and sell flavors that appeal to children like fruit and mint. If you’ve already started vaping or smoking cigarettes, it’s never too late to quit.
How does puffing work?
While they may look different, most vaping devices work in a similar way. Puffing activates a battery-powered heating device. This heats the liquid in a cartridge, turning it into vapors that are inhaled.
Is vaping more popular in high school?
Vaping is now more popular among teens than smoking traditional cigarettes. One in four high school seniors say they vaped nicotine in the past month. And studies have found that teens who vape nicotine may be more likely to go on to smoke traditional cigarettes.
Can nicotine be inhaled in a vaporizer?
Plus, other chemicals can be produced during the vaporizing process. “If the liquid has nicotine in it, then the user is inhaling nicotine along with the other ingredients in the liquid,” explains Dr. Thomas Eissenberg, an expert on tobacco research at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Is vaping harmful?
So how safe is vaping? Studies suggest nicotine vaping may be less harmful than traditional cigarettes when people who regularly smoke switch to them as a complete replacement. But nicotine vaping could still damage your health.
What is secondhand vapor?
Secondhand vapor (which is technically an aerosol) is the vapor exhaled into the atmosphere by an e-cig user. Like secondhand smoke, it lingers in the air long enough that anyone in the same room (assuming the room is small enough) is likely to inhale some of the exhaled aerosol. As the name indicates, the bystanders are not inhaling secondhand (or passive) smoke—because secondhand e-cigarette vapor simply isn’t smoke.
Is secondhand vapor dangerous?
In Public Health England’s updated 2018 evidence review, the agency’s experts analyzed several new studies of passive exposure that had been published since the original 2015 PHE e-cig report. They concluded—again—that “to date there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.”
What is the order of magnitude of burstyn?
Orders of magnitude are multiples of 10—so, 10 – 100 – 1,000 – 10,000 , and so on. What Burstyn means is that the exposure to toxic chemicals in secondhand vapor is so slight as to pose no real threat. Whatever the risk may be to the users themselves, it is 10 or 100, or even 1,000 or 10,000, times lower for the bystander.
What is the difference between e-cigarettes and vapor?
E-cigs heat e-liquid with a small metal coil housed in an atomizer , and the heat turns the e-juice into the vapor you see. E-cigarette vapor doesn’t have any carbon monoxide or tar, and the particles in the aerosol are liquid rather than solid. Dangerous chemicals and metals are found in vapor, but only in tiny quantities.
Is third hand nicotine inhaled or exhaled?
What isn’t inhaled falls to the ground quite rapidly. Those concerned with “thirdhand nicotine”—the unabsorbed nicotine that lands on floors and furniture—might make a case for not vaping around kids or pets who might lick the surfaces. But there’s not much nicotine left in the settled residue. According to a 2016 University of California-San Francisco study, 93.8 percent of the inhaled nicotine is retained by the user, and is not part of the exhaled vapor.
Does vaping contain VG?
Aside from propylene glycol and glycerin (PG and VG) —the two glycols that make up the base of virtually all e-liquids—what vapers exhale into the air doesn’t contain high levels of anything. According to Drexel University toxicologist Igor Burstyn, while the contents of e-cig vapor inhaled by users “justifies surveillance,” there is so little contamination in exhaled vapor that there is unlikely to be any risk for bystanders.
Can you vape inside a house?
If you encounter people vaping inside a house, all of the secondhand vapor you see comes out of the mouths of the vapers in the room. There is no side stream “vape smoke” like there is side stream tobacco smoke from cigarettes—no constant emission of vapor pouring from the device when it’s not being used.
What is the aerosol from vaping?
The aerosol from passive vaping also contains other chemicals not present in regular cigarettes, such as propylene glycol and glycerol, which serve as the solvent in vape liquid, and flavourings.
Why should we include vaping in smoke free policies?
Policymakers should consider including vaping in smoke-free policies to simplify communication and implementation of the regulations.
What is an e-cigarette?
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), also known as vapes, are gaining popularity among youths in many parts of the world, including the US and Europe. These young vapers are often unaware their e-cigarettes contain nicotine, an addictive substance that is also present in tobacco cigarettes. Little do vapers know that their habit may also endanger ...
Where does vaping come from?
Unlike passive smoking, which includes the smoke released from the end of the burning cigarette (side stream), passive vaping only comes from the exhaled e-cigarette aerosol since the device does not yield side stream.
Why is there no regulation for e-cigarettes?
This lack of regulation of e-cigarette aerosol occurs because European countries still focus more on other e-cigarette regulatory domains, such as marketing, retailing, pricing and product standards. Fortunately, people are mainly in favour of vaping bans in public places, particularly in smoke-free areas.
What are the toxins in e-cigarettes?
The toxins include, among others, fine and ultra-fine particles (also known as particulate matter), nicotine, volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, as well as metals. The latter was found in e-cigarette aerosol at a higher level than in tobacco smoke.
Where is e-cigarette use prevalent?
Exposure to e-cigarette aerosol has been pervasive, especially in countries where e-cigarette use is prevalent, like Greece and England . In 2017-2018, 16% of adult bystanders in 12 European countries were exposed to e-cigarette aerosol in indoor settings. In the US, passive vaping in indoor or outdoor public places was reported by nearly one in ...
