E-Cigarettes and Vaping: How They Work and What Is Known About the Risks

E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that deliver nicotine; using one is called vaping. They go by many names — vapes, vape pens, hookah pens, e-cigars, e-pipes — and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration groups them as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS).

How they work

The user puffs on the mouthpiece of a cartridge, which makes a vaporizer heat the "e-liquid" inside. The liquid usually contains nicotine derived from tobacco, flavourings, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and other chemicals; heated, it becomes an aerosol that is inhaled.

Some e-cigarettes are made to look like cigarettes, cigars or pipes; others resemble pens or USB flash drives, and larger tank systems or "mods" look nothing like a cigarette. Some have reusable parts; others are disposable.

What is known about the risks

Some people believe e-cigarettes are safer than cigarettes and can help people stop smoking. Not much is known about their health risks, or whether they do help people quit, and the FDA says further high-quality research on short- and long-term outcomes is needed. Some dangers are known:

• they contain nicotine, which is highly addictive;
• they deliver other potentially harmful chemicals;
• in teens, e-cigarette use is linked with smoking tobacco cigarettes;
• the liquid can cause nicotine poisoning if someone drinks it, sniffs it or gets it on their skin.

People have also reported overheating, fires and explosions, lung injuries, and seizures and other neurological symptoms. A battery fire is more dangerous near an oxygen tank, a propane tank or a gas pump, and a seizure more so while driving.

For adults who smoke

The FDA's position is that e-cigarettes can generally be a lower-risk alternative for adults who smoke cigarettes, but are not risk-free. Switching completely may reduce exposure to many harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke; long periods of using both can harm health as much as, or more than, smoking alone. There is no safe tobacco product, and young people and adults who do not use tobacco should not start.

Sources

• MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, "E-Cigarettes," drawing on the National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://medlineplus.gov/ecigarettes.html
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration, "E-Cigarettes, Vapes, and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS)." https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/products-ingredients-components/e-cigarettes-vapes-and-other-electronic-nicotine-delivery-systems-ends
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.