Is Vaping Safe?
By Elina Panayotova
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Without question, the best decision any smoker can make is to quit tobacco and nicotine use altogether. For those that don't quit smoking, choosing a less harmful alternative is a better choice than continuing to smoke.
Many smokers who want to switch to less harmful alternatives may wonder, is vaping safe, are vapes dangerous or what are the risks associated with vaping?
Are vapes safe?
A vape, also known as an e-cigarette or an ‘e-cig’, is an electronic device which heats an e-liquid to produce an vapour. You can find out more about e-cigarettes on our blog.
Vaping should never be taken up by people who don’t already smoke. Vaping products are not risk-free and the best option for any smoker is to quit altogether. However, comparably, vaping products are a better alternative than continuing to smoke.
In the UK, e-cigarettes are regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) which transposed the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and introduced minimum standards for safety and quality of e-cigarettes and e-liquids. These provisions are enforced by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). As such, there are requirements that producers of vapes and e-liquids must follow prior to placing their products on the market.
What makes vaping a better alternative than smoking?
When a cigarette is burned, the combustion process produces smoke containing thousands of harmful chemicals, of which roughly 250 have been identified as causes or potential causes of smoking-related diseases.
Instead of tobacco, e-cigarettes use e-liquids. The two core ingredients to e-liquids are propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, often referred to as PG and VG. Flavourings (and often nicotine) are also present in e-liquids. In the UK any e-liquid produced is subject to regulation to maintain standards of quality and safety.
E-cigarettes vaporise this e-liquid to produce a vapour, which contains fewer toxic chemicals than cigarette smoke. However, there are regulations in place to ensure e-liquids on the market are safe. Find out more about vaping here.
