Recently, San Francisco banned the use of E-Cigarettes, which has people wondering if they’re really safe.
“Vapes” work by heating a liquid, usually containing nicotine, to a certain point, causing a liquid to change into a vapour, without causing harmful chemicals to form.
Nicotine does not cause cancer unlike tobacco in normal cigarettes, which kills thousands of smokers every year. That’s why nicotine replacement therapy has been used for many years by the NHS to help people stop smoking, in the form of gum, skin patches and sprays.
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Doctors, public health experts, cancer charities and governments in the UK all agree that, based on the current evidence, e-cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of cigarettes.
One independent review concluded vaping was about 95% less harmful than smoking. However, that doesn’t mean they are completely risk free. The liquid and vapour in e-cigarettes can contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at much lower levels. In a small, early study in the lab, UK scientists found the vapour could lead to changes in the lung’s immune cells. The issue with vaping is that there are not any lifetime long studies regarding it. Smoking tobacco has happened for centuries, where as vaping has only became popular in the past 10 years, meaning there are no studies that have been ran long term.
There are chemicals in some vape liquid which have been proven to be harmful in the past. Diacetyl is a safe food flavouring, and it’s what gives popcorn its buttery flavour. It is used in vape liquids occasionally and has been proven to cause lung scarring. Years ago, popcorn factory workers were found to have lung scarring, and after research into the incident they found diacetyl was to blame.
It’s clear that vaping is much safer than smoking, but until life-long studies have been conducted, we won’t know how safe it really is.
