Vaping is far less harmful than smoking. But any level of smoking is dangerous and the best way to reduce your risk of cancer and other illnesses is to quit completely.
If people who smoke and vape (dual users) think the risks are similar, it could undermine the hard-won gains in smoking cessation. We need to work together to correct misperceptions.
1. No Smoke
Vaping exposes users to much lower levels of toxins and causes far fewer diseases of the lungs and circulatory system than smoking. However, nicotine is still present in e-liquids and can cause addiction.
E-cigarettes are increasingly popular with youth, especially given their ease of use and wide variety of flavours. This could reverse years of hard-won progress in curbing smoking and harm to children’s health. There are resources available for youth who are vaping and interested in stopping. Supportive services can include nicotine satiation specialists and local Stop Smoking Services. It’s important to remember that nicotine is addictive and may take time to quit. Identify triggers, stay positive and focus on developing new healthier habits. Getting help and leaning on your support network can make all the difference!
2. No Odor
As a result, vaping leaves behind no lingering smoke smell. Instead, it can leave behind a scent that matches the flavor of the e-liquid used. This is because a vape’s flavoring chemicals, like vanillin or ethyl maltol, have agreeable odors that smell pleasant to most people.
However, there are still some unpleasant odors that can be left behind, depending on the vaping method and vaporizer type used. It’s best to ask a vape shop for low-odor options and proactive odor control measures to keep lingering smells at bay. Additionally, some apartments and shared areas have strict vaping restrictions that require vaping outside of designated spaces. This can impact smokers and nonsmokers who have to abide by these rules. However, with the right precautions, odors from vaping are easy to manage.
3. No Chemicals
The thousands of harmful chemicals in cigarettes increase your risk for heart disease. E-cigarettes may contain fewer chemicals, but they are not completely harmless.
A study of adolescent vapers found that even if the liquid did not have nicotine, the chemical reactions between flavorings and propylene glycol (used to make the vapor) released chemicals that could be carcinogenic. And even without nicotine, researchers have found that vaping can cause harm by increasing your heart rate and blood pressure and reducing lung function.
The best choice is to stop smoking, but if you want to continue to smoke, the BHF advises you to use vaping devices with low levels of harmful chemicals and high quality ingredients. Also, choose a non-toxic cartridge, which can help reduce environmental damage. Get advise on how to choose a non-toxic cartridge through cloud 9 vape stores in loganville ga.
4. No Carcinogens
While cigarettes release more than 7,000 chemicals, up to 70 of which are known to cause cancer, e-cigarette aerosol only contains about 10 cancer-causing chemicals. This is because battery-powered vapes heat a pod of liquid to create an aerosol mist that you inhale into your lungs.
The chemicals in these liquids include diacetyl, a chemical used to flavor vape products that scars the lungs and has been linked to a type of lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans (popcorn lung). They also may contain acrolein, a weed killer; propylene glycol, a toxic chemical found in paint solvents and antifreeze; and acrylonitrile, an industrial solvent.
Research has shown that nicotine is harmful and can stunt the brain development of adolescents, leading to future smoking or vaping. It has also been linked to a decrease in endothelial function and arterial stiffness, which raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.
5. No Tobacco
Vaping involves no burning of tobacco, and thus does not produce the toxic chemicals that are produced by smoking cigarettes. The absence of tobacco in vaping is a major benefit for smokers who switch to vaping.
While many experts consider vaping less harmful than smoking, there is still much to learn about the long-term risks of e-cigarette use. For example, e-cigarettes do not protect against the development of obstructive lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Smokers who switch to vaping are not immune to stigmatization. They face the same drug war style campaign that has been used for decades to denormalize and dehumanize smokers and tobacco users. This is a serious concern, since re-normalizing smoking could reverse hard-won gains in global efforts to reduce the harm of smoking.