SWITCH TO QUIT – SMOKING VS VAPING

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SMOKING Vs VAPING – Is vaping less harmful than traditional smoking?

YES! But do you know why?  There’s still so much confusion surrounding the facts of vaping and sadly, some smokers have resisted switching to vaping believing that it isn’t safer than smoking. Let’s clear this up once and for all.

VAPING IS 95% LESS HARMFUL THAN SMOKING! 1

Why?  Well, it’s all about the toxins. There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are toxic.

Public Health England (PHE) found that while vaping is not entirely risk free, it is 95% less harmful than smoking, due mostly to the absence of smoke as the chemicals in e-liquids are heated, not burned.1

Here are just a few of the ingredients found in combustible tobacco products, aka cigarettes:3

Acetone—found in nail polish remover

Acetic acid—an ingredient in hair dye

Ammonia—a common household cleaner

Arsenic—used in rat poison

Benzene—found in rubber cement and gasoline

Butane—used in lighter fluid

Cadmium—active component in battery acid

Carbon monoxide—released in car exhaust fumes

Formaldehyde—embalming fluid

Hexamine—found in barbecue lighter fluid

Lead—used in batteries

Naphthalene—an ingredient in mothballs

Methanol—a main component in rocket fuel

Tar—material for paving roads

Toluene—used to manufacture paint

The main difference between vaping and smoking is heat vs burning. The ingredients in an e-liquid are merely heated and as such don’t change state in the same way as the ingredients in tobacco do when they are burned. While it is known that vapour can include toxins, they appear in tiny quantities and have an incredibly short life span.

Vaping produces an aerosol cloud, which consists of fine particles, it is often confused with water vapour as it looks like clouds of steam (it does contain H2O, but it isn’t considered to be water vapour).

The aerosol cloud contains particles of material that have been transformed by the process of heating. The three core ingredients of e-liquid will be converted into different ratios of chemicals depending on the ingredients used. Owing to the tiny amount of toxins (so small, even the most sophisticated laboratories struggle to measure them) found in the vapour, coupled with the short life of the vapour, it also poses no risk to those around us – passive vaping isn’t a thing. The same cannot be said of smoking, with passive smoking known to have many serious side effects for people in close proximity to the smoker.

CONCLUSION

Coronavirus has highlighted the need to protect our respiratory health as it rapidly destroys lung tissue and is particularly devastating on people with underlying health issues.  Sadly, smokers (even those without an underlying issue) are at higher risk of contracting serious complications from COVID-19 as smoking affects the way our immune system functions. 13

The time to quit smoking is RIGHT NOW.

STAY SAFE OUT THERE.

References

References

    1. McNeill, A. et al. Evidence review of e- cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018. A report commissioned by Public Health England (2018).
    2. Andy McEwen and Hayden McRobbie, Electronic cigarettes: A briefing for stop smoking services, National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) in association with Public Health England (2016)
    3. Medical Editorial Content Board, American Cancer Society, ‘Harmful Chemicals in Tobacco’ (2015)
    4. Article: Clearing up some myths around e-cigarettes, Martin Dockrell, Public Health England, February 2018
    5. McNeill, A. et al. Evidence update. A report commissioned by Public Health England (2019).
    6. American, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Report Analysis of Lung Injury Deaths Associated with Use of E-cigarette, or Vaping Products. (2019)
    7. Benjamin W. Chaffee, DDS MPH PhD, Electronic Cigarettes: Trends, Health Effects and Advising Patients Amid Uncertainty, report published by California Dental Assoc. (2019)
    8. E-cigarettes: an evidence update, Public Health England, Aug 2015
    9. Dr Andy McEwen, executive director of the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training, interview for Cancer Research UK (2016)
    10. Long-term effects of inhaled Nicotine. Waldum HL (et al), study for Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Tronheim, Norway. (1996)
    11. Cancer Research UK, 2019
    12. Action on smoking and health (ASH). Use of e-cigarettes among adults in Great Britain (2018)
    13. ITN News Interview – https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2020-03-18/smokers-urged-to-quit-now-more-than-ever-or-face-greater-risks-from-coronavirus/

Joanne Emmerson FCIM
Head of Marketing, Ibiza Club

Joanne is a fellow of the Royal Chartered Institute of Marketing and has 30+ years marketing experience. She has worked all around the world, is published in 7 countries and teaches marketing communication theory at Post Graduate level both in the UK and USA. She has worked alongside many government bodies, health organisations and national charities. ivcservice@ibizavapeclub.com