E-cigarettes around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review
During the Vietnam War, cigarettes were included with C-ration meals. In 1975, the U.S. government stopped putting cigarettes in military rations. During the second half of the 20th century, the adverse health effects of tobacco smoking started to become widely known and printed health warnings became common on cigarette packets. This health advisory is being issued by the State Health Officer to inform the public about the alarming statistics on current e-cigarette use among youth in Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, current e-cigarette use among Wisconsin high school students increased 154% between 2014 and 2018.
If you have never smoked or used other tobacco products or e-cigarettes, do not start. Effective July 1, 2019, people must be at least 21 years old to buy tobacco products in Illinois, including e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes as consumer products have not been proven to be effective for cessation at the population level. Instead, alarming evidence on adverse population health effects is mounting. Researchers have linked vitamin E acetate, a synthetic form of vitamin E found in some THC-containing vaping products, to EVALI.
Set firm expectations that they do not use any type of commercial tobacco product, including e-cigarettes and vapes. For more guidance, here's a tip sheet for talking to your children about e-cigarettes. Electronic smoking devices (ESDs) do not just emit "harmless water vapor." Secondhand aerosol (incorrectly called vapor by the industry) from ESDs contains nicotine, ultrafine particles and low levels of toxins that are known to cause cancer.
"It’s young people doing something terrible for them that’s supposed to be healthy," he said. There’s a whole genre of throwing-away-my-Juul videos on social media, with people tossing their vape into a river or a snowbank as dramatic music plays. New research led by Roswell Park experts in health behavior and published today in the journal JAMA Network Open suggests that daily e-cigarette use may help some people to quit using combustible cigarettes.
Replacing your cigarette with a cigar, pipe, e-cigarette, or hookah won’t help you avoid the health risks. The U.S. government has taken steps to restrict most flavored vaping products, effective in 2020. While this should reduce the number of flavored cartridges available in the United States, the guidelines are limited to products submitted for market authorization and don’t include those made at home or purchased online from other countries. Other studies suggest that while using e-cigarettes sends pollutants into the air, the concentration of these toxins drops quickly after someone stops vaping (much faster than cigarette smoke), but that doesn’t mean that the risk has gone away. Some, for example, will settle on surfaces, such as carpets or furniture, where small children might touch them or inadvertently ingest them when placing contaminated objects in their mouths.
Scroll to the top of the page and click on the blue "Order Publications" box for ordering information and to complete the order form. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Any person or business that sells, transfers or ships for profit any ENDS in interstate commerce must now register with ATF according to 15 U.S.C. §§ 375 and 376. E-cigarettes are not currently available from the NHS on prescription, so you cannot get one from your GP.
Starting to use e-cigarettes or switching from tobacco products to e-cigarettes increases your risk of adverse health effects. Interestingly, there is a strong difference of opinion on e-cigarettes between countries. Whereas countries such as Brazil, Uruguay and India have banned the sale of e-cigarettes, others such as the United Kingdom support this device to quit smoking.
I want to carry the stink and taste that won’t let me forget I’m damaging myself when I’m smoking. The way to quit isn’t through a device that made a nicotine hit easier, or fun. In other words, just because something is safe to eat doesn’t mean it’s safe to be inhaled. (Duh.) Vaping also seems to trigger potentially harmful immune responses in the lungs.
Poisoning from nicotine and e-cigarette liquid can occur by drinking it, spilling it on the skin, and breathing too much vapor. Cases of accidental eye exposure have also been reported as refill bottles are similar to commercially available eye dropper bottles used for therapeutic eye drops. Prohibiting e-cigarette use inside or near buildings, vehicles and other enclosed spaces is the only way to eliminate exposure to secondhand e-cigarette aerosol and health risks that may come with it. Other electronic vapor products that use e-liquids include e-cigars, e-pipes, and hookah pens (e-hookah).
Jabba and colleagues, including co-senior author Sven Eric Jordt, Ph.D., analyzed an e-cigarette product sold under the brand name Spree Bar, which comes in at least nine flavors and is listed as containing 5 percent 6-methyl nicotine. Study results showed the actual amount of the chemical was about 88% less than labeled. The e-cigarettes also included an artificial sweetener that is up to 13,000 times sweeter than table sugar, and an artificial coolant that mimics menthol’s effects. Talk to your patients, including youth and young adults, about the dangers of tobacco use.
Youth and young adults who want to quit vaping are invited to text DITCHVAPE to to sign up for a totally free, anonymous texting service that provides 24/7 support, daily tips and motivation to keep you focused on your end goal. This service incorporates messages from young people who have attempted to quit, or successfully quit, e-cigarettes. Visit Truth Initiative to learn more about the This is Quitting campaign. According to a 2017 study, teens who use e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke regular tobacco products later on, compared with their peers. An electronic cigarette is a battery-operated device that emits a vaporized solution to inhale. These devices have various names, including e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, vaporizer cigarettes, vapes, and vape pens.They come in a range of shapes.
As with high school students, e-cigarette use was much more common than cigarette use. E-cigarettes come in many shapes and sizes and can also be called e-cigs, e-hookahs, vapes, vape pens, personal diffusers or diffuser sticks. But one vape can contain the equivalent of 50 cigarettes of nicotine in the one product. They also contain a complex combination of chemicals including nicotine, nickel, tin, arsenic, chlorine and lead. These substances can be harmful to the body, with different flavourings helping to mask these poisons when they are taken into the body. An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) is a battery-operated device that heats liquid nicotine, flavoring, and other additives to create an aerosol.
The use of e-cigarettes has increased exponentially in recent years, and vaping has become preferred to traditional cigarette smoking among today’s young people and those looking for alternative to traditional tobacco and nicotine products. As use and availability of these products increases, reports have cast more light on the health effects of e-cigarettes. Here, Kenneth Uy, a health coach at Henry Ford Health, clarifies some information about these products and how their use can impact your health.
Adjusted analyses revealed that the type of e-cigarette device used played no role in the rates of cigarette discontinuation. Data were taken from the nationally representative Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study (PATH), which assessed participants through audio-based, computer-assisted self-interviews in English or Spanish. Interviews were conducted in "waves" -- October 2014 to October 2015, October 2015 to October 2016, December 2016 to January 2018, and December 2018 to November 2019.
Dr Goel praised the central government’s initiatives to discourage tobacco consumption, including establishment of over 429 Tobacco Cessation Centers (TCCs), awareness campaigns, and the National Tobacco Quit Line. More information about youth vaping and CATCH My Breath is available on the program’s website. While the federal purchasing age of tobacco is 21, North Carolina law still lists it as 18, and many vape shops are operating under that age.
JUULs very closely resemble a USB drive, can be charged in a USB port, and emit little to no detectable vapor or odor. Due to their easily concealable design, they are of particular concern with regard to youth use. DOH urges all people to be very careful when it comes to your health. Even if a substance has not yet been proven to be dangerous, there is no guarantee it is safe. You don’t actually light up an e-cig; they’re powered by a rechargeable lithium battery. Instead of burning tobacco, the "e-liquid" is vaporized in a heating chamber when the user inhales.
Beginning July 1, 2019, Illinois law prohibits the sale of tobacco products, including these products, to people younger than age 21. The smoke also caused damage to the lungs and bladders of mice, indicating that it may increase the risks of developing lung and bladder cancer. Since e-cigarettes arrived in the U.S. in 2007, they have been investigated by addiction researchers as possible cessation devices for adults trying to quit combustible, or regular, cigarettes.
Many are already working on efforts to combat this crisis, and we now ask for redoubled efforts and increased coordination. Below are recommended actions that different groups can take to address this issue. Cross-tabulations and Pearson χ2-tests were conducted with IBM SPSS 27.0, and multilevel logistic regression analyses with MlwiN 3.05. The associations between the student- and school-level independent variables and S-SM, S-EC, and S-SN were tested with two-level logistic regression models, with students on level one and schools on level two. The estimation procedure in the random intercept models was second-order predictive quasi-likelihood (PQL2). Analyses were stratified by gender due to significant interactions between gender and educational aspirations for all three outcomes in the unadjusted analyses.
One of the first studies in humans involved the analysis of 9 volunteers that consumed e-cigarettes, with or without nicotine, in a ventilated room for 2 h [8]. Pollutants in indoor air, exhaled nitric oxide (NO) and urinary metabolite profiles were analysed. The results of this acute experiment revealed that e-cigarettes are not emission-free, and ultrafine particles formed from propylene glycol (PG) could be detected in the lungs. In line with these observations, dysregulation of lung homeostasis has been documented in non-smokers subjected to acute inhalation of e-cigarette aerosols [10]. Globally, there is an ongoing debate about whether e-cigarettes are a threat or an opportunity to public health.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by ODPHP or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website. The last reviewed date indicates when the evidence for this resource last underwent a comprehensive review. Reviewed by Kenneth Uy, a health coach and tobacco treatment specialist at Henry Ford Health. Patrick O’Connor, MD, Yale Medicine’s chief of general internal medicine, who has dedicated his career to researching opioid and alcohol drug abuse, points to similarities between epidemic cigarette use in the 1940s and 50s, and e-cigarette use now.
The tobacco industry profits from destroying health and is using these newer products to get a seat at the policy making table with governments to lobby against health policies. WHO is concerned that the tobacco industry funds and promotes false evidence to argue that these products reduce harm, while at the same time heavily promoting these products to children and non-smokers and continuing to sell billions of cigarettes. Nicotine affects the development of the brain’s reward system and brain circuits that control attention and learning. Continued use of nicotine can lead to addiction and raise the risk for addiction to other drugs. In a recent study, about 18% of people who switched to vaping had been able to quit smoking.
The replaceable liquid cartridge contains nicotine mixed with a base (usually propylene glycol), along with flavorings and chemicals. The tip often contains LED lights that simulate the glow of a burning cigarette. Nicotine poisoning can occur when someone ingests, inhales, or absorbs nicotine through the skin or eyes. It can be particularly dangerous for children and young adults, as they are more susceptible to the effects of nicotine. The tax must be broken out as a separate amount from the products sold in any transaction.
To be clear, I never even used to smoke during the day when I was using cigarettes. But if a project is particularly stressful (or just slightly vexatious, any excuse will do), my sleek little e-cig is just sitting in my bag at my feet. Like a never-ending pipe, you don’t know when you’ve had enough, when you’ve had a cigarette’s worth of nicotine. One quick puff to slay your stress can turn into one puff every few minutes, then whenever I get the slightest urge.
Other important components in the aerosols include silicate particles from the fiberglass wicks or silicone [89,90,91]. Many of these products are known to cause abnormalities in respiratory function and respiratory diseases [89,90,91], but more in-depth studies are required. Interestingly, the battery output voltage also seems to have an impact on the cytotoxicity of the aerosol vapours, with e-liquids from a higher battery output voltage showing more toxicity to A549 cells [30]. The lethal dose of nicotine for an adult is estimated at 30–60 mg [52].
Indeed, one of the limitations of the study was that human cells are not exposed to e-liquids per se, but rather to the aerosols where the concentrations are lower [86]. In this line, the maximum concentration tested (1000 µM) would correspond to approximately 80 to 150 ppm, which is far higher than the levels found in aerosols of some of these compounds [84]. Moreover, on a day-to-day basis, lungs of e-cigarette users are not constantly exposed to these chemicals for 24 h at these concentrations. Similar limitations were found when five of seven flavourings were found to cause cytotoxicity in human bronchial epithelial cells [87]. It is well known that nicotine is extremely addictive and has a multitude of harmful effects. Nicotine has significant biologic activity and adversely affects several physiological systems including the cardiovascular, respiratory, immunological and reproductive systems, and can also compromise lung and kidney function [41].
WHO regularly monitors and reviews the evidence on ENDS and health and offers guidance to governments. "Yale physicians have been at the forefront in identifying EVALI cases," Dr. Weiss says. She explains that even before CDC guidelines on treating the illness were released, Yale doctors were successfully treating patients with a combination of antibiotics and steroids. Doctors at Yale Medicine also collaborate with researchers in the fields of tobacco and addiction medicine to provide care for patients with EVALI.
That legal decision allowed sales of e-cigarettes to proceed but left many questions about their safety unaddressed. To lower the potential risks posed by secondhand aerosol exposure from vaping, some U.S. states, territories, and cities have started restricting where people can vape. There are currently more than 7,000 varieties of flavored e-cigarettes and e-juice (liquid containing nicotine that is used in refillable devices) on the market. Although the popularity and use of e-cigarettes continues to increase, there is a lack of data on their potential health effects. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a proposed rule to include e-cigarettes under its authority to regulate certain tobacco and nicotine-containing products. Fourth-generation ‘pod’ e-cigarette devices have been driven by technological advances in electronic atomization of the e-liquid.
This mixture is typically made up of propylene glycol and/or glycerol (vegetable glycerin) and other chemicals. Flavouring ingredients include chemicals and blends of chemicals used to make different flavours. Disposable e-cigarettes are not covered by the flavor restrictions imposed by the Food and Drug Administration.
Vape flavors like mint and mango appeal to young people and mask the harshness of nicotine. The small, discreet size of vapes and e-cigarettes make them easy to conceal at school and home. The bottom line is e-cigarettes and vapes are unsafe for kids, teens and young adults. Nicotine is harmful to the developing brain and the use of e-cigarettes as a teen increases the likelihood of smoking cigarettes as an adult. The chemical additives and flavoring can also cause unwanted health effects.
Enter e-cigarettes, which were new, high-tech, and came with no proven health risks. There were no long-term studies yet, but common sense dictated that if you wanted to quit inhaling tobacco through smoking, the least you could do was switch to e-cigarettes. She added that there is also an "absence of studies" on the effects and dosage of nicotine replacement therapy, or NRT, for adolescents as a way to help them quit vaping. Nicotine replacement therapy is the family of medications used to help adults quit using nicotine, including over-the-counter patches, gums or lozenges or prescription inhalers or nasal sprays. California has some of the strictest regulations in the US, including a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products to residents of any age.
Still, many people, including teens and young adults drawn to vaping, may not realize that, Bittoni said. Other popular brands, like Puff Bar, have received warnings from regulators about the sale of flavored devices as well. Following the Golden State, Washington had the second-lowest amount of youth vapers, at eight percent. In the Evergreen state, the legal age to purchase vapes is 21, and there is a ban on all flavored varieties. Last year, Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens, a Republican, introduced Senate Bill 89, aimed at imposing the state's first-ever tax on e-cigarette products. Wyoming had the highest rate of youth vapers, with 30 percent of kids under 18 reporting they had used e-cigarettes in 2023.
New national laws to strengthen controls on the importation, manufacture, and supply of all e-cigarette products are now in place. If you prefer to stop vaping in one step, you can ask your pharmacist or stop smoking adviser about switching to a suitable nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) product. This is an alternative way of cutting down your nicotine use until you are ready to stop completely. Remember to keep vapes and e-liquid out of the reach of children and pets, as there is a risk of poisoning if nicotine is swallowed. It's important to choose an e-liquid with enough nicotine to reduce withdrawal symptoms and urges to smoke.
However a recent study found that young people who are using ESDs to quit smoking might be smoking more, not less. Of great concern are the wide range of e-cigarette candy-flavors that appeal to youth. Urgent measures are necessary to prevent uptake of e-cigarettes and counter nicotine addiction alongside a comprehensive approach to tobacco control, and in light of national circumstances. E-cigarettes have been allowed on the open market and aggressively marketed to young people. Thirty-four countries ban the sale of e-cigarettes, 88 countries have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be bought and 74 countries have no regulations in place for these harmful products. E-cigarettes are nicotine-based products, and no nicotine use is safe.
Australia, New Zealand, Poland, and Pakistan have a nationwide ban on the selling of all tobacco products to people under the age of 18. "Since most of the health concerns about e-cigarettes have focused on nicotine, there is still much we do not know about e-cigarettes. The present study utilized a nationwide school survey which covers the majority of the respective Finnish student population and a validated measure for susceptibility, adapted to cover also e-cigarettes and snus. The limitations include self-reporting, lack of class-level data and a measure on school performance, and potential bias in parental education and smoking when reported by students. Further, no causal conclusions can be made from this cross-sectional data. Some adolescents experience first dependence symptoms early [2], which makes prevention of nicotine use essential.
More research is needed to address the potential long-term adverse effects of vaping on vascular health, but he predicts that e-cigarettes are potentially much more hazardous than previously assumed. Earlier this year, for instance, his research group found that acute exposure to e-cigarettes causes vascular inflammation. One in four middle school and high school students in Minnesota had tried e-cigarettes (teens call it vaping or juuling). Half of high school seniors reported having tried e-cigarettes at least once. The growing popularity of e-cigarettes among Minnesota’s youth caused the first rise in overall tobacco use in over two decades.
Various studies suggest the vapors from e-cigarettes contain several cancer-causing substances, as well as incredibly tiny particles of tin, chromium, nickel and other heavy metals, which, in large enough concentrations, can damage the lungs. These particles likely fleck off the solder joints or metal coil in the devices when heated. Because they are so small, the tiniest bits of metal, known as nanoparticles, can travel deep into the lungs. There they could exacerbate asthma, bronchitis—an inflammation of the tubes that carry air to and from the lungs—and emphysema—a disease in which the lungs' many air sacs are destroyed, leaving patients short of breath. So far there are not enough data to say with certainty whether e-cigs worsen these disorders. E-cigarettes have a battery-operated component that heats liquid containing nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals.
"Recent studies should make us all more concerned about the impact of traditional and e-cigarettes on the heart as well," Dr. Cireddu says. According to the 2018 NAP report, secondhand vapor contains nicotine, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at concentrations that are above recommended levels. The 2018 NAP report found that there’s some evidence that e-cigarette exposure has adverse effects on the respiratory system. Some studies suggest that vaping may have negative effects on the lungs, but more research is needed.
In 2014, just under 8% of Wisconsin high school students were using e-cigarettes. In 2018, that number has skyrocketed to 20% (or one out of every five students[i]). They found that while several of the liquids were moderately toxic to the endothelial cells, the cinnamon- and menthol-flavored e-liquids significantly decreased the viability of the cells in culture even in the absence of nicotine. The tobacco cigarette used as a comparator was the Kentucky Reference Cigarette 1R6F (Centre for Tobacco Reference Products, University of Kentucky, USA), which has been designed to provide a standard test piece for scientific studies. It is an unflavoured US-blended king-sized product with a cellulose acetate filter, an aerosol nicotine level of 1.9 ± 0.1 mg cig–1, and a tar yield of 29 ± 2 mg cig−1 as measured by the ISO Intense smoking regime6,56.
And Puerto Rico have passed comprehensive smoke-free indoor air laws that include e-cigarettes, as of March 31, 2023. These laws prohibit smoking and the use of e-cigarettes in indoor areas of private worksites, restaurants, and bars. In our fight to end youth and young adult nicotine addiction, we focus on the issues that matter most.
The inhaled vapor may contain nicotine (the addictive drug in tobacco), flavorings, and toxins—including ones that cause cancer. People who have already switched completely from smoking to e-cigarettes should not switch back to smoking (either solely or along with e-cigarettes), which could expose them to potentially devastating health effects. It's important to know the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that sometimes e-cigarette products are changed or modified and can have possibly harmful or illegal substances from unknown sources. Get regular updates on the health effects of tobacco, public health educational resources, and highlights on current tobacco issues and regulations.
Parent groups and anti-tobacco advocates immediately criticized the decision, which comes after years of pushing regulators to keep menthol and other flavors that can appeal to teens off the market. In 2023, 309.4 million units of e-cigarette products were sold in U.S. retail stores nationwide. An e-cigarette’s appearance is determined by the shape and size of its components.
In December 2019, the federal government raised the legal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years, and in January 2020, the FDA issued a policy on the sale of flavored vaping cartridges. The e-liquid in most e-cigarettes contains nicotine, the same addictive drug that is in regular cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and other tobacco products. However, nicotine levels are not the same in all types of e-cigarettes, and sometimes product labels do not list the true nicotine content. Products marketed for therapeutic purposes (for example, marketed as a product to help people quit smoking) are regulated by FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).
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A 2016 study found that people who use or have used e-cigarettes are less likely to stop smoking altogether. Flavors vary widely, from "traditional" and menthol to watermelon and "lava flow." Some e-cigarettes taste like traditional cigarettes and even mimic the tastes of specific brands. When the user sucks on the mouthpiece, the heating element vaporizes the solution, which the person then "vapes," or inhales. The nicotine content of the liquid can range from "very high" to zero. Refills come in flavors such as cool cucumber, mango, and mint, which may seem natural and harmless, but a single JUUL refill contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes. To inform this work and evaluate the effectiveness of policy, the CDC Foundation is collecting and analyzing information about e-cigarette sales, teen e-cigarette use, and teens’ attitudes about the epidemic.
While there appears to be some consensus that vaping may be less harmful to health than tobacco cigarette smoking, the dangers of e-cigarettes remain unclear. The range of e-liquid flavours available to consumers is extensive and is used to attract both current smokers and new e-cigarette users, which is a growing public health concern [6]. In fact, over 5 million middle- and high-school students were current users of e-cigarettes in 2019 [75], and appealing flavours have been identified as the primary reason for e-cigarette consumption in 81% of young users [76]. Since 2016, the FDA regulates the flavours used in the e-cigarette market and has recently published an enforcement policy on unauthorised flavours, including fruit and mint flavours, which are more appealing to young users [77].
Many grants on this topic are funded through the Tobacco Regulatory Science Program, an NIH partnership with FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products to fund research to inform FDA’s tobacco regulatory activities. Interestingly, most of these reports linking COVID-19 harmful effects with smoking or vaping, are based on their capability of increasing the expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in the lung. It is well known that ACE2 is the gate for SARS-CoV-2 entrance to the airways [106] and it is mainly expressed in type 2 alveolar epithelial cells and alveolar macrophages [107]. To date, most of the studies in this field indicate that current smokers have higher expression of ACE2 in the airways (reviewed by [108]) than healthy non-smokers [109, 110]. While tobacco products have been a long-standing public health issue, e-cigarette (aka e-cigs, vape pens, vapes) use has continued to gain popularity throughout the last decade. Poison centers began receiving calls about e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine products in 2010, which overlaps with the initial period where these products reached the U.S. market.
With millions of teens and young adults using e-cigarettes, a new generation could become addicted to nicotine and face other health risks. For some adult smokers, e-cigarettes may offer a less harmful substitute for traditional cigarettes. However, long-term effects on users, second-hand exposure, and environmental effects are not yet fully known. The e-liquid typically contains humectants and flavourings, with or without nicotine; once vapourised by the atomiser, the aerosol (vapour) provides a sensation similar to tobacco smoking, but purportedly without harmful effects [3].
The Finnish Social and Health Data Permit Authority Findata grants permits to the secondary use of the SHP data. Conceptualized and designed the study, managed data, and conducted analyses. All authors contributed to manuscript revisions and have approved the final version of the article. The association between student- and school-level factors and susceptibility to e-cigarette use.
This was a large increase from 2019, when only 11.3% of people had ever used e‑cigarettes, and 2.5% were currently using them (Figure 1). The proportion of people who used e‑cigarettes daily in 2022–2023 was 3.5%, rising from 1.1% in 2019. In smokers who smoke tobacco cigarettes, blood flow increased modestly after cigarette inhalation and then decreased with subsequent stress. However, with those who vaped, blood flow decreased after inhalation at rest and also after handgrip stress. Finally, lung health effects are not expected to be seen for 20 to 30 years.
To our knowledge, no studies in Europe have examined susceptibility to e-cigarette (S-EC) use and snus use (S-SN). Glyoxal and methylglyoxal are formed by thermal degradation or oxidation of PG and VG87. Glyoxal is considered mutagenic, while the related compound methylglyoxal has been identified as a metabolite during glycolysis and is thus naturally present in the body. Methylglyoxal is also present in foods and drinks such as honey and coffee.
Similarly, a 2014 review reported that vaping may trigger gum, mouth, and throat irritation. In particular, a 2015 study examined the effects of flavored e-juices on both human lung cells and lung cells in mice. Here’s what we currently know about the effects of vaping fluids with and without nicotine and vaping cannabis or CBD. In cultured human airway epithelial cells, both e-cigarette aerosol and CS extract induced IL-8/CXCL8 (neutrophil chemoattractant) release [28]. Researchers noted that study participants using both types of cigarettes had a higher nicotine dependence in relation to e-cigarettes. Find more resources on tobacco, e-cigarettes, and vaping on the SAMHSA Store.
E-cigarettes are not risk-free but are believed to cause less harm than smoking. They do not burn tobacco or produce tar or carbon monoxide — two of the most harmful parts of tobacco smoke. Smoking can raise your risk for periodontal disease or disease affecting the gums.
According to the 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 2 million teens reported vaping nicotine, and there was an increase in current overall tobacco product use among middle school students (4.5% to 6.6%) and multiple tobacco product use (1.5% to 2.5%). They are not technically categorized as smokeless tobacco, so the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate them as strictly as smoked tobacco products or combustible tobacco. Without long-term data, we cannot be certain if or how reduced exposure will prevent harm to one’s health. In Canada, most of the provinces require smokers to be 19 years of age to purchase cigarettes (except for Quebec and the prairie provinces, where the age is 18). However, the minimum age only concerns the purchase of tobacco, not use. Alberta, however, does have a law which prohibits the possession or use of tobacco products by all persons under 18, punishable by a $100 fine.
They usually contain nicotine, which is the addictive chemical in cigarettes. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco, which is the harmful part of cigarettes that causes cancer. By comparison, traditional cigarette sales have fallen by 5.2% since July 2023, while smokeless and oral nicotine products — led foremost by Zyn products — are up 11.8% as a category. Amid the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes and vapes among young people, health experts from PGIMER have raised concerns. They pointed out that many young people mistakenly think that e-cigarettes are "cool" because of their flavours, sleek designs, and social appeal. Experts warn that this misconception greatly increases the chances of non-smoking youth using regular cigarettes.
The decision lends new credibility to vaping companies’ longstanding claim that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking, which is blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually due to cancer, lung disease and heart disease. E-cigarettes have been sold in the U.S. since 2007 but in recent years their potential benefits for smokers have been overshadowed by their use by adolescents and teens. Vaping nicotine has not been thoroughly evaluated in scientific studies. For now, not enough data exists on the safety of e-cigarettes, how the health effects compare to traditional cigarettes, and if they are helpful for people trying to quit smoking.
Parental smoking, positive attitude towards e-cigarette use in one’s age group, current smoking, and snus use increased S-EC, whereas liking school lowered it. At school level, both among girls and boys, a higher proportion of students liking school and being never-users lowered S-EC, whereas a higher proportion of students with positive attitudes towards e-cigarette use increased it. Among girls, a higher proportion of girls in the school, students with a high parental education and planning for GUSS lowered S-EC, but a higher proportion of students with parental smoking increased it.
The Lung Association remains extremely troubled about the rapid increase of youth using these products and has repeatedly called upon the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to increase their oversight and scrutiny of these products to protect kids. This is Quitting is a free and anonymous text messaging program from Truth Initiative designed to help young people quit vaping. The first-of-its-kind quit program has helped over 700,000 youth and young adults quit vaping by incorporating messages from other young people like them who have attempted to, or successfully quit, e-cigarettes. Truth Initiative is America's largest nonprofit public health organization committed to preventing youth and young adult nicotine addiction and empowering quitting for all.
Surgeon General’s recommendation urging those who influence youth, young adults and people who are pregnant to discourage nicotine use in any form, including e-cigarettes. To protect kids now, states and cities must also continue their growing efforts to end the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, as well as other flavored tobacco products. Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are part of a category of products called Electronic Smoking Devices (ESDs), which are designed to mimic combustible tobacco cigarettes and, in most cases, contain varying levels of nicotine. Our compassionate providers can help both you and your child understand the dangers of vaping and provide resources that help people quit using tobacco products like e-cigarettes. During this time, the brain is constantly rewiring itself, which makes it far more vulnerable to nicotine addiction. This is part of why teens who vape are nearly three times more likely to begin smoking cigarettes.
Please be advised that many of these stories contain graphic and upsetting photos of injuries. Exposure to nicotine can also rewire a young brain to become more easily addicted to other substances, including cocaine and alcohol. Even if a cartridge doesn’t contain nicotine, other harmful chemicals may be present.
Nonetheless, adults who smoke who switch to using e-cigarettes expose themselves to potentially serious ongoing health risks. If they are unable to quit e-cigarettes on their own, they should seek help from a health care professional or quitline. Individuals who are not yet able to stop using e-cigarettes should be strongly discouraged from simultaneous, or "dual," use of any combustible tobacco products, including cigarettes. Continuing to smoke exposes the individual to enormous harms, irrespective of whether the individual is using e-cigarettes part of the time. All individuals should also be strongly counseled to not revert to smoking. Some look like a regular cigarette, but many resemble everyday products like pens, USB drives, highlighting markers, or colorful toy-like items.
It can also reduce fertility, increase the chance of developing type 2 diabetes, and contribute to bone loss. Even people who "smoke but don’t inhale" face an increased risk of mouth cancer. By Robyn Correll, MPHCorrell holds a master of public health degree and has over a decade of experience working in the prevention of infectious diseases. Researchers spent decades studying the health consequences of secondhand smoke. It might be a while before we have a clear picture of how secondhand vaping can impact a person’s long-term health, especially for young children.
Manufacturers claim e-cigarettes are a safe alternative to smoking regular cigarettes. Cancer is definitely a concern, given that vaping introduces a host of chemicals into the lungs. But vaping products haven’t been around long enough for us to learn whether or not they cause cancer. In 2018, 3.6 million U.S. high school and middle school students smoked an e-cigarette within 30 days of polling, making it the most common tobacco product used among this group.
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. "We think that some of the vaporized elements of the oil are getting deep down into the lungs and causing an inflammatory response," explains Broderick.
In this latter regard, no differences were encountered in the frequency of tumour appearance in rats subjected to long-term (2 years) inhalation of nicotine when compared with control rats [48]. Despite the lack of carcinogenicity evidence, it has been reported that nicotine promotes tumour cell survival by decreasing apoptosis and increasing proliferation [49], indicating that it may work as a "tumour enhancer". In a very recent study, chronic administration of nicotine to mice (1 mg/kg every 3 days for a 60-day period) enhanced brain metastasis by skewing the polarity of M2 microglia, which increases metastatic tumour growth [50]. Assuming that a conventional cigarette contains 0.172–1.702 mg of nicotine [51], the daily nicotine dose administered to these animals corresponds to 40–400 cigarettes for a 70 kg-adult, which is a dose of an extremely heavy smoker.
This includes quit coaching, up to 2 weeks of nicotine replacement therapy, and a youth digital program for those ages 13-17. Vuse, owned by Reynolds American, and Juul control about 60% of the market, while hundreds of disposable brands account for the rest. While nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, most of the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic.
Vape aerosols may also increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and asthma complications. The substitution was especially evident among cigarette brands popular with young people aged 20 and under, suggesting that flavor restrictions may increase smoking among youth as well as adults. The immense popularity of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, among young people has led many policymakers to restrict the sale of flavored varieties. Proponents of e-cigarettes claim they’re safer than smoking because they don’t contain the more than 60 cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco smoke and are not combustible. But e-cigs still deliver harmful chemicals, including nicotine, the extremely addictive substance in cigarettes.
More research needs to be done to understand the long-term health effects of secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapor. Secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapor is said to be less toxic than secondhand exposure to cigarette smoke. However, secondhand vapor is still a form of air pollution that probably poses health risks. N.L.B. serves as a consultant to pharmaceutical companies that market or are developing smoking cessation medications, and has provided expert testimony in litigation against tobacco companies. N.A.R. consults with and has received a research grant from Achieve Life Sciences for development of a smoking cessation medication, and receives royalties from UpToDate (an online medical textbook) as author of sections on e-cigarettes.
Strong decisive action is needed to prevent the uptake of e-cigarettes based on the growing body of evidence of its use by children and adolescents and health harms. Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes reviews and critically assesses the state of the emerging evidence about e-cigarettes and health. This report makes recommendations for the improvement of this research and highlights gaps that are a priority for future research. Vape explosions have been linked to faulty batteries in vaping devices.
Krishnan-Sarin points to progress that has been made—finally—in recent years to reduce regular cigarette smoking rates among young adults. In her opinion, the significant decline is due to the success of large-scale public health campaigns and a general awareness among youth that cigarettes are harmful to health. The liquid they contain also has many monikers—it might be called e-juice, e-liquid, cartridges, pods, or oil.
As one addiction expert has said, "The modern cigarette does to nicotine what crack does to cocaine." Pax Labs discovered that by adding benzoic acid to nicotine salts, which occur naturally in tobacco, they could mimic a cigarette’s rapid nicotine delivery. Both British American Tobacco Plc and Altria are prodding the FDA for heightened enforcement on "illicit" synthetic nicotine electronic cigarettes in the U.S. vaping market. The companies have estimated those synthetic products represent about half of the overall domestic e-cigarette market.
They do contain propylene glycol, but the concentrations are far below levels usually considered harmful. Though this might make the VITAs hit slightly harsher than vapes without this ingredient, it shouldn't pose much risk to your health. But levels are usually low and generally far lower than in tobacco cigarettes. I don’t sit around inhaling lungful after lungful of vape for seven minutes at a time, like I would a real cigarette, so the lingering aura from my habit certainly isn’t hovering for extended periods of time.
Middle and high school students are the largest users of these smoking replacements. Recent youth tobacco surveys found e-cigarette use had surpassed conventional cigarettes as the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. These surveys also revealed that many young people consider vaping to be safe and are not aware that e-cigarettes contain nicotine. It is easy for middle school and high school students to conceal their use of vaping devices because of their appearance as everyday objects.
You need to start at a nicotine level that matches your cigarette use – how frequently and how much you smoke. A specialist vape shop or your local Stop Smoking Service can advise you. Vaping has not been around for long enough to know the risks of long-term use. While vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, it is unlikely to be totally harmless. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'electronic cigarette.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
At 180 Smoke Vape Store, we're committed to providing an accessible and educational vaping experience for adults across Canada with our e-commerce platform, and 30 store locations across Ontario. Whether you're a seasoned vaping enthusiast or new to the world of vaping, we are dedicated to delivering a wide range of options and alternatives to empower you to choose products that best suit your needs. All medications have side effects and indications for use, so it’s important to discuss this information with a health care provider before use. Within countries, patterns of cigarette consumption also can vary widely. For example, in many of the countries where few women smoke, smoking rates are often high in males (e.g., in Asia). By contrast, in most developed countries, female smoking rates are typically only a few percentage points below those of males.
The liquid and vapour contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke, but at a much lower level. Find out more about e-cigarettes, e-liquids and vaping to quit smoking on the Better Health website. In many e-cigarettes, puffing activates the battery-powered heating device, which vaporizes the liquid in the cartridge. The person then inhales the resulting aerosol or vapor (called vaping).
Current evidence indicates that using e-cigarettes is dangerous, especially for young people and people who have never smoked. In young people, the use of nicotine can impact the reward system in the brain. In time, this can make the use of other drugs, such as cocaine, more pleasurable, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
Fortunately, there has been a substantial drop in cases since they peaked in August and September of 2020. What’s more, researchers have also identified vitamin E acetate, a chemical added to some THC-containing vaping products, as the main—but possibly not the only—cause of the illness. The outbreak of EVALI cases emerged against a backdrop of an ongoing vaping epidemic among youth.
Most factory-made cigarettes are equipped with a filter; those who roll their own can buy them separately. Filters can reduce some substances from smoke but do not make cigarettes any safer to smoke. A recipe-specified combination of brightleaf, burley-leaf, and oriental-leaf tobacco is mixed with various additives to improve its flavors. Most commercially available cigarettes today contain tobacco that is treated with sugar to counter the harshness of the smoke. At the start of the 20th century, the per capita annual consumption in the U.S. was 54 cigarettes (with fewer than 0.5% of the population smoking more than 100 cigarettes per year), and consumption there peaked at 4,259 per capita in 1965. The authors wish to thank all adolescents and schools that participated in the SHP study in 2017, and the SHP study coordinators from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare who prepared the initial data and provided practical support with it.
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, include e-pens, e-pipes, e-hookah, and e-cigars are known collectively as ENDS— electronic nicotine delivery systems. According to the FDA, e-cigarettes are devices that allow users to inhale an aerosol containing nicotine or other substances. Other studies show that newer e-cigarettes deliver higher doses of nicotine more efficiently, which could be a reason why these findings were observed. The authors acknowledge that more frequent use of e-cigarettes may also reflect greater determination to quit smoking combustible cigarettes and that their study did not evaluate risks of youth e-cigarette use. Over the next few years, the optimism over e-cigarettes waned as their popularity skyrocketed. Juul’s sales increased over 600 percent each year to become the best selling device on the market while I inhaled an atmosphere’s worth of vanilla vapor into my lungs.
According to the study, 40.1% of 1,018 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 29 surveyed said they refilled devices not intended to be refilled and 35.8% recharged the battery of vaping pods meant to be thrown out after one use. Others reported mixing nicotine and cannabis liquids in devices designed only for nicotine. The decision lends new credibility to vaping companies’ longstanding claim that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking, which is blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually due to cancer, lung disease and heart disease. Some of the harmful substances emitted in secondhand e-cigarette aerosols are similar to those in secondhand tobacco smoke.
This solution typically contains propylene glycol or glycerol, nicotine, and flavouring agents. Indeed, the "vapor" may have a lot more than those five ingredients listed above. Some studies have found it to contain lead, nickel, tin, and silver from the machinery inside the devices along with formaldehyde, manganese, tolulene, and other ingredients linked to cancer, central nervous system problems, and other possible health issues. A 2018 study of e-cig smokers’ urine found at least five of the same carcinogens found in cigarettes.
If used during pregnancy, nicotine may also cause premature births and low birthweight babies. The use of e-cigarettes is often referred to as "vaping" because many people believe e-cigarettes create a vapor, which is then inhaled. But in fact, e-cigarettes produce an aerosol made up of tiny particles, which is different from a vapor. Some vape shops may have legal responsibilities as both manufacturers and retailers of tobacco products.
In January, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners passed a new ordinance that prevents new vape shops from opening within 1,000 feet of a school to address youth nicotine consumption. On the rare occasions I partake, instead of filling my nostrils with the taste of a warm crème brûlée, my mouth tastes like a street gutter for an hour. I like the nicotine, but everything else about the experience is viscerally revolting. About 43% of the study participants were LGBTQ+ adolescents, for instance, and research suggests that LGBTQ+ young people smoke and vape at a higher prevalence than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. The new study included a diverse group of adolescents, indicating how the text message program could be helpful for marginalized communities, said Dr. Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, a professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. "Text messaging is a scalable and cost-efficient approach to delivering vaping cessation treatment on a population basis," the researchers wrote in the study.
Over the years, Evans tried to quit by using the nicotine patch, gum, and even hypnosis. When you stop using it, you can go into withdrawal and feel depressed and crabby. We have lots of detailed vaping guides and blog posts to help new vapers make the transition to vaping. Find everything you need to know about e-liquids, starter kits, and what to expect when switching to vaping. Alternatively, why not speak to one of our customer service advisors? Great for new vapers, disposable vape kits are the simplest way to vape.
Where e-cigarette flavor restrictions had been in effect for at least a year, sales of cigarette brands favored by adults went up by 10%, while sales of cigarette brands that disproportionately attract underage smokers saw a 20% bump. During the study period, hundreds of localities and seven states restricted or prohibited flavored e-cigarette sales. While these policies did reduce per-capita vape sales, they also substantially boosted cigarette sales. To date, there is no state excise or special tax placed on e-cigarettes. In vaping liquids, nicotine and/or flavouring ingredients are dissolved in a liquid mixture.
Perhaps contrary to what many would expect, vaping marijuana may have as many negative health effects as nicotine-based vaping. This may have more to do with how vape liquids are processed than the THC itself. The tobacco industry profits from destroying health and is using these newer products to get a seat at the policy-making table with governments to lobby against health policies. The tobacco industry funds and promotes false evidence to argue that these products reduce harm, while at the same time heavily promoting these products to children and non-smokers and continuing to sell billions of cigarettes.
The cytotoxic and pro-inflammatory effects of different e-cigarette flavouring chemicals were also tested on two human monocytic cell lines—mono mac 6 (MM6) and U937 [86]. Also, all the tested flavours produced significant levels of ROS in a cell-free ROS production assay. Finally, diacetyl, pentanedione, O-vanillin, maltol, coumarin, and CAD induced significant IL-8 secretion from MM6 and U937 monocytes [86]. It should be borne in mind, however, that the concentrations assayed were in the supra-physiological range and it is likely that, once inhaled, these concentrations are not reached in the airway space.
It acknowledges the wisdom of Elders past and present, and pays respect to all Aboriginal communities of today. Always be considerate when vaping around anyone else, especially people with health conditions like asthma or other respiratory conditions, or people who do not like vaping. But as a precaution, it is best not to vape around babies and children if you can avoid it. Remember, if you have stopped smoking completely you have already achieved a huge step in protecting your health, so don't worry if it takes you a while to stop vaping. You can buy them from specialist vape shops, some pharmacies, supermarkets and other retailers, or from an online vape store.
"If there was good evidence that people were using e-cigarettes just to quit smoking, there would be wide support," Benowitz says. "The problem is most of the e-cigarette use in the U.S. is dual use with cigarettes." People use e-cigs in places or situations where they can't smoke, like in a restaurant, but continue lighting up when they can, he explains. "My reading of the evidence is that it is quite convincing that e-cigarettes are helping some people quit smoking." Many young e-cigarette users reported throwing away, improperly recycling, or littering the devices. Only 15% of young e-cigarette users reported disposing of empty pods or disposable vapes by dropping them off or sending them for electronic recycling.
A note from Cleveland ClinicNicotine poisoning is on the rise, mostly due to the availability of some of the newer forms of nicotine that are now popular. Children eat cigarettes and can be accidentally poisoned by touching, tasting or swallowing liquid nicotine or liquid nicotine-containing products used in e-cigarettes. To keep you and your family and pets safe from nicotine poisoning, the most effective approach would be to eliminate or ban tobacco-containing or nicotine-containing products in your home. If you're interested in quitting smoking, your healthcare team is here, ready and looking forward to helping you. All tobacco products contain nicotine and are harmful to your health. All are technically capable of causing poisoning if taken in large enough quantities.
Probably the worst thing a parent could do for their child would be to buy an e-cigarette under the misconception that this might prevent them from smoking regular cigarettes, Krishnan-Sarin says. She encourages parents to talk openly and freely about vaping—with the caveat that they provide accurate information. "I think the problem is that parents lose credibility if they say something to try and convince their child, who then finds out that it isn’t true," she says. Vape pen and e-cigarette explosions from overheated, defective and/or modified device batteries have occurred, causing injury and serious health problems to users. Learn more about how to avoid vape battery explosions from the FDA or download the FDA's tips for avoiding battery explosions.
"This is Our Watch" is a voluntary education program with resources to help tobacco retailers better understand and comply with FDA tobacco regulations. Tobacco retailers play a direct role in protecting kids from nicotine addiction and the deadly effects of tobacco use. Learn what tobacco retailers need to do to comply with the rules designed to prevent our nation's youth from becoming the next generation of Americans to die prematurely from tobacco-related disease.
Guidance exists on best practices on this concept of accountability — known as end-producer responsibility — but isn’t enforced across the industry by any governing body. Substances from inhaled aerosol particles reaching the e-cigarette user’s lungs, blood, and brain. Minnesota’s middle school and high school students who have asthma who vaped or smoked in the past 30 days reported experiencing more frequent symptoms of asthma than students who did not have asthma who had not vaped or smoked.
In December 2019, Congress raised the minimum age to buy tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21. Because of the popularity of certain flavored e-cigarette products among children, FDA stated in January 2020 that it would prioritize enforcement actions against the manufacture and sale of most flavors in cartridge-based e-cigarettes. In April 2020, FDA extended from May to September 2020 the deadline for manufacturers to apply for premarket authorization, a process that includes the scientific evaluation of risks and benefits of e-cigarettes for the U.S. population. NCI supports research to understand the potential impact of ENDS use on both individual and population health, as it relates to cancer control and prevention.
There's always a chance that the fail-safe could fail, though, which is why we don't consider these as safe as other vaping devices. The biggest risks in vaping devices come when you get into highly customizable "mods." These devices allow for lots of fine-tuning in terms of the internal electrical setup. But this added flexibility means more possibilities for health hazards. You'll have to be careful not to buy knock-off vape liquids with unhealthy contaminants, for one thing.
Resources are available to help teens quit through the American Lung Association and SmokeFreeTeen. Several outlets also take a look at the history behind regulation of cigarettes and vaping products and also how the growing anxiety about the outbreak of respiratory problems might be dangerous. Other regions are increasingly playing larger roles in the growing global smoking epidemic. The WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) now has the highest growth rate in the cigarette market, with more than a one-third increase in cigarette consumption since 2000.
A lack of data has led to classification of methylgloxal as a Group 3 carcinogen (carcinogenicity to humans not classifiable) by IARC. Both compounds have been previously detected in e-cigarette emissions at concentrations of 0.07–0.94 and 0.09–33 µg puff–1, respectively86,88. In our study, glyoxal was present at lower levels (BB57 and BB18, 0.02 and 0.05 µg puff–1, respectively), while methylglyoxal was at concentrations of 0.13 and 0.19 µg puff–1 in BB57 and BB18, respectively (Table 3). Glyoxal was detected in the method air blank and therefore the actual levels in the e-cigarette emissions are potentially lower than reported in Table 3.
It may also increase the risk of developing mood disorders and problems with impulse control.
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