How Safe Is Vaping?

An estimated 2.1 million people use e-cigarettes in the UK and about half a million in Australia. But are they the healthiest alternative to smoking?

As a lot of you might know, Formaldehyde, a substance known to cause cancer in human tissue, is found in cigarette smoke. And new research shows formaldehyde also dwells in the vaporised liquid of the popular e-cigarettes.

According to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the exposure to formaldehyde from e-cigarettes could be five to 15 times higher than from smoking cigarettes, as reported in The Huffington Post.

“It’s way too early now from an epidemiological point of view to say how bad they are,” co-author James F. Pankow, professor of chemistry and engineering at Portland State University in Oregon told NBC News. “But the bottom line is, there are toxins and some are more than in regular cigarettes. And if you are vaping, you probably shouldn’t be using it at a high-voltage setting.”

It should be noted that there are more than 8,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, so it’s hard to say whether formaldehyde is the main cause of cigarette-related cancers. But there’s been so much controversy about e-cigarettes since they commercially replaced cigarettes.

Vaping is becoming more common among young people who have never smoked traditional tobacco cigarettes and a lot of them do it just because it’s the new ‘in’ thing.

“This is particularly concerning given that the safety of e-cigarettes has not yet been thoroughly scientifically evaluated. It is clear that urgent action is needed to educate and protect young people,” said Robin Ireland, Chief Executive of Health Equalities Group.

While a lot of people make the assumption that e-cigarettes are safe and they are perfectly fine, but there’s very minimal evidence on whether the dangerous after-effects of e-cigarettes might be something for all of us to worry about 10-15 years from today.

What are your thoughts on this? Are you a vapor or a quitter?