E-Cigarettes (Vapes): What They Are, What's in Them, and What Sells

E-cigarettes, or vapes, are battery-powered devices that heat a liquid to make an aerosol — a mix of tiny particles released into the air, which some people call "vapour." The user breathes the aerosol into the lungs, and people nearby can breathe it in when it is exhaled. Using them is called vaping.

E-cigarettes usually contain nicotine, the addictive substance in cigarettes and other tobacco products, and some can deliver cannabis and other drugs. They often come in bright colours and in flavours that appeal to young people, such as fruit, candy, menthol and mint.

Kinds of device

Most have a battery, a heating element and somewhere to hold liquid. The main types:

• Disposable e-cigarettes come pre-filled and may be rechargeable, but are not meant to be refilled.
• Refillable e-cigarettes are rechargeable, with a tank or chamber filled with e-liquid; some can be modified to change how much aerosol they make or how strong a dose they deliver.
• Pre-filled cartridge or pod e-cigarettes are rechargeable and meant for reuse.

Some look like USB flash drives, pens, smartphones, highlighters or toys. So-called "smart vapes" have screens and can include games and rewards for vaping, such as points and rankings, which may make them even more appealing to young people. Other names include e-cigs, vape pens and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and the liquid is also called e-juice, e-liquid or vape juice.

Some e-cigarettes look like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, USB drives, pens, highlighters or toys. CDC.

What's in the aerosol

E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless water vapour. It can contain:

• nicotine, highly addictive and able to harm the developing adolescent brain;
• cancer-causing chemicals;
• heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead;
• tiny particles that can be breathed deep into the lungs;
• volatile organic compounds;
• flavourings such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious lung disease. Some flavourings safe to eat may not be safe to inhale, because the lungs handle substances differently from the gut.

It is hard to know what a given e-cigarette contains: some sold as having zero percent nicotine have been found to contain it. Many contain nicotine salts, which let people take in high levels of nicotine without the harshness of freebase nicotine.

Harmful and potentially harmful substances that can be found in e-cigarette aerosol. CDC.

Sales in the United States

The products on sale change quickly, driven by new products, state and local sales policies, actions by the Food and Drug Administration and shifts in global supply chains. In brick-and-mortar stores (online and specialty tobacco shop sales were not available), in four-week periods from February 2020 to June 2024:

• unit sales rose from 15.7 million to 21.1 million, an increase of 34.7 percent;
• by June 2024, nearly 6,300 different e-cigarette products were on sale, and disposables in youth-appealing flavours were the most commonly sold type;
• disposables' share of sales more than doubled, from 26.0 percent to 58.1 percent (12.3 million units), while prefilled cartridges fell from 73.9 percent to 41.8 percent;
• in June 2024, 80.6 percent of sales (17.0 million units) were flavours other than tobacco, such as menthol and mint, and dollar sales totalled $488.9 million.

From April to June 2024, the ten best-selling brands by dollar sales were, in order, Vuse, JUUL, Geek Bar Pulse, Breeze Smoke, NJOY, RAZ, HQD, Loon Maxx, Breeze Prime and Juicy Bar.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About E-Cigarettes (Vapes)," October 24, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/e-cigarettes/about.html
• CDC, E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Products Visual Dictionary. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/pdfs/ecigarette-or-vaping-products-visual-dictionary-508.pdf