Vaping vs. Smoking: Is One Truly Better Than the Other?

Have you ever heard someone casually throw the word ‘vaping’ around? It is the act of inhaling an aerosol generated within an electronic or e-cigarette.

Even those who would recoil at the thought of traditional cigarettes or tobacco tend to pay little attention to vaping. This practice has become commonplace among American youth.

However, what’s normalized does not automatically become normal, right? It is important to consider whether vaping is truly as harmless as it is often portrayed. In this article, we will understand whether one is truly better than the other. Keep reading to know why vaping is considered safer than smoking, and three important facts associated with e-cigarettes.

Vaping Considered to Be Safer Than Smoking

Many folks consider vaping to be better than smoking, mainly because it does not involve burning tobacco. Regular cigarettes contain toxic chemicals like carbon monoxide (CO) and formaldehyde.

Some are even considered to be carcinogenic to humans. Let’s dig a little deeper – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that exposure to high levels of CO can become life-threatening. It leads to poisoning, which may have symptoms like nausea, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, seizures, etc.

As for formaldehyde, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that high-level exposure can cause certain types of cancer. These may include leukemia and nasopharyngeal cancer.

Those who vape are not exposed to tobacco or cigarette smoke. This is precisely why vaping is seen as harmless.

Vaping tools heat a liquid solution into an aerosol for the user to inhale. The elements of e-cigarettes or vaping pens include a battery, an atomizer or heating element, a mouthpiece, and a cartridge.

When the device is used, the battery-powered heating element vaporizes the liquid inside the cartridge into an inhalable aerosol. The liquid or e-juice consists of nicotine, flavorings, and even certain oils or herbs. Some e-cigarettes are designed for one-time use, whereas others can be refilled and recharged.

Three Facts About E-Cigarettes You Must Know

We currently live in a vaping culture where younger demographics are using e-cigarettes heavily. The global market for these products was expected to become $29.1 billion in 2024.

Despite a growing market, certain facts cannot be ignored. Listed below are three important things you must know about e-cigarettes.

They Can Harm Your Lungs and Heart

Vaping may be considered safer than smoking, but it is not so. Johns Hopkins Medicine shares that the vaping inhaler works like an asthma nebulizer. The latter is used to deliver medicine to the lungs.

However, an e-cigarette does not coat the lungs in a therapeutic mist like the former. On the contrary, it releases potentially harmful chemicals like nicotine and aromatic additives.

The vaporized elements in the oil can reach deep into the lungs and cause an inflammatory response. Studies have even found formaldehyde in vaping liquid. This practice is associated with a variety of lung diseases, including –

• Popcorn lung or bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a rare condition that permanently scars the small airways of the lungs. This disease makes breathing difficult and has no lasting treatment.
• Lipoid pneumonia is a disorder in which fatty acids enter the lungs. The only way to reverse the problem is to stop vaping.
• Primary spontaneous pneumothorax or collapsed lung, in which a perforation forms in the organ. This hole allows oxygen to escape and may require a chest tube to drain the gas.

Cancer is another concern, although vaping hasn’t been long enough to observe the correlation. The above-mentioned concerns are related to secondhand vapor exposure as well.

They May Contain PFAS

If the chemicals we discussed in the previous section weren’t bad enough, e-cigarettes may even carry the risk of PFAS. They are popularly known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of over 12,000 synthetic chemicals that share a carbon-fluorine bond.

PFAS have had industrial applications for decades because they are oil, water, and grease-resistant. Besides non-stick cookware and stain-resistant garments, they were used in Class B firefighting foam.

This foam was mainly used to eliminate fast-spreading liquid-fuel fires. For some time, PFAS’ effects were unknown but gradually concerns began surfacing. By the end of 2010s, it was confirmed that PFAS carry serious health risks, including cancer.

Firefighters and military servicemen alleged that they developed cancer of the testicles, kidneys, and bladder due to regular exposure. In 2017, many filed a firefighting foam lawsuit, seeking fair compensation for their injuries.

According to TorHoerman Law, the litigation is still ongoing and has a total number of 7,150 cases. It is expected that settlements will be made in 2025. Research is ongoing but some e-liquids may contain toxic PFAS.

Though these chemicals are largely non-volatile and stable, the heating procedure can vaporize them. This means those using e-cigarettes will end up inhaling such chemicals directly.

Besides cancer risk, there are many others associated with PFAS. The EPA lists them down as reduced immune response, hormonal imbalances, and increased cholesterol levels.

They Are As Addictive As Traditional Cigarettes

When the term vaping crops up, people often take it lightly. Due to the absence of smoke and tar, it is believed that e-cigarettes would not drag users toward addiction. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This misconception also exists due to the delivery method of e-cigarettes. It may be true that e-cigarettes do not contain as many harmful substances as traditional kinds. However, they still have nicotine which is highly addictive.

The e-juice contains nicotine derived from the toxic tobacco plant. As per the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nicotine affects the developing brain the most. This is why it is extremely risky for youth from an addiction viewpoint.

In light of this, it is appalling that some people hold the idea of e-cigarettes being smoking cessation tools. This has not been proven yet, but given the nicotine levels in e-cigarettes, that may never happen. Hence, vaping as an attempt to quit smoking may just be jumping from one addiction to another.

In the US, youth from middle and high schools use e-cigarettes more than any other tobacco product. That would sum up to nearly 1.63 million students.

Most of them want to quit but are now addicted. What’s even more shocking is the fact that girls are more addicted than their male counterparts. It’s important to increase awareness of vaping and debunk the myths to deter people from it.

An end to this practice can significantly improve quality of life and health. Knowledge is power, and it’s time to wield this weapon in the right direction.

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