Is Vaping Good for You?

When it comes to a science though, not enough studies employ a direct comparison between vaping and smoking. That’s a missed opportunity. As we all know, vaping has now appeared in many different categories of products, such as pod kit, mod vape, disposable pod, etc. It’s understood that smoking is bad for you with many health risks, but is vaping bad for you? How can does vaping affect your health? Separate from understanding the absolute safety of vaping, it’s imperative to know if vaping is much safer than smoking.

Every discussion of the health risks of vaping should begin with a comparison to cigarette smoking. This is important for two reasons. First, vapes are designed to be reduced-harm alternatives to smoking cigarettes. Second, it’s important to weigh vaping versus smoking because the vast majority of vapers are smokers or ex-smokers.

Public Health England has been unequivocal in its findings: vaping is at least 95 percent safer than smoking. They understand that studying the dangers of vaping alone is only half of the subject since vaping exists primarily as an alternative to smoking. Since there aren’t many studies that employ a direct comparison, the available information on vaping must be measured against the available information on cigarette smoking, rather than in isolation.

Smoking cigarettes causes well-known harm to the lungs. Long-term inhalation of burning tobacco can lead to lung and esophageal cancer, and to a variety of deadly lung conditions like emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But what about vaping? Cigarette smoke attacks the lungs in several ways. It contains thousands of chemicals, more than 70 of which are known carcinogens. It also contains particulate matter — fine bits of burned tobacco and paper — that is deposited deep in the lungs, where they can be buried in the tissue. Vaping doesn’t produce known carcinogens in quantities large enough to be considered real risks, and it doesn’t contain solid particles like smoke.

In fact, the things that are most dangerous in burning tobacco are largely absent from vaping. Since there is no combustion in vaping, there is no tar or carbon monoxide — two other major dangers of smoking. Vaping uses heat from a coil to turn e-liquid into an inhalable aerosol. It looks like smoke, but isn’t. That said, vaping is not without some potential risks to lung health.

There is some concern over the ingredients in e-liquid: propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, and flavorings. There is no serious human research on the effects of inhaling PG or VG daily for an extended period of time, although extensive animal studies of PG inhalation haven’t raised any red flags. PG has been found to cause minor irritation of the airways, but this isn’t concerning in itself.

E-liquid flavorings are a possible source of danger that hasn’t been well-studied. Most flavorings are a mixture of many chemical compounds, and it’s likely that some are worse for lung health than others. Until recently, these flavorings were used strictly in products that were eaten, not inhaled. So toxicology studies have focused on showing that the flavorings are safe for consumption. This is an area where the science on vaping needs to catch up.

A recurring headline has been about diketones like diacetyl being found in some e-liquid. This group of flavoring chemicals is believed to be responsible for a deadly disease called popcorn lung when it is inhaled in large quantities (like in the case of workers in popcorn manufacturing facilities). Diketones are not present in all e-liquid, but a 2014 study by Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos concluded that diacetyl and acetyl propionyl are ‘avoidable risks.’ Following that, many manufacturers reformulated their products and eliminated them. Others began publishing testing showing the levels of the diketones in their products.

Diketones are present in cigarettes too, at 100-750 times the level of any e-liquid. Yet, even though smoking ravages the lungs in other ways, it isn’t associated with popcorn lung. Considering the much larger quantities of diketones in cigarette smoke, the comparatively small amounts in vapes are not likely to be a threat. That’s not to say diketones are safe for inhalation, but the safer choice between vaping and smoking is clear, considering the amounts present.

Cigarettes wreak havoc on the body, damaging the smoker practically from head to toe. The harms have been proven beyond doubt. But there is no evidence pointing to similar health effects from vape — or any health problems, for that matter — unless you count possible nicotine dependence. But nicotine isn’t directly responsible for any of the terrible results of smoking. Vaping remains a far better choice when compared to smoking.