New study comes the closest yet to proving that e-cigarettes aren’t as dangerous as smoking

This I agree, is all about the risk of Cancer in the case of studies, however there are studies that show that the flavoring could be responsible for serious lung problems.
Another point to raise is that a smoker puts down or out a cigarette when smoked usually, but those that use e – cigs seem to increase their usage and I have watched the non stop e-cig to mouth progress.
I am certain that most smoke these at least 3-4 times more often than they used to cigarettes,
Until all the research is in, I for one will not be trying them again, the vapour causes me to be short of breath and leaves me with an irritated throat.

Iam 66yr old female.been smoking tobacco since I was 16yr old.although not considered a heavy heavy smoker 30gm lasted me nearly 7days.(7th day was butt day).april 2017 l purchased my 30gm.as usual next day I purchased $100dollar e cigarette machine and low tar oil.cit a long story short I allowed myself 1tobacco cig a day and that 30gm lastrd 4week.I have not purchased tobacco since and smoke e permanately.everyone around me has tried e machine with no luck.I dont know how I did it but I did.neverwill I go back to nasty tobacco(plus I save 50.00 a week)I cracked it.and proud of myself.

I’m a Non smoker and my doctor told me that I suffer an allergic reaction to the smoke that comes off these devices my throat becomes sore the back of ,my nose stings and my tongue becomes number … that tells me they are not safe

this article focusing solely on cancer risk – for obvious reasons – but pays not attention to studies that are now 2 years old relating to other respiratory conditions linked to the chemicals in e-cigarettes – https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/15-10185/ – it’s about over all health caused by these things not just the risk of cancer.

I have been smoking and e-cig vapor for 5 years now and I feel so much healthier. I used to smoke up to 30 cigarettes a day and had a chesty cough. Now my chest is dry and no longer have a cough. Don’t forget I save a lot of money, I don’t smoke my e-cig like a cigarette, I take the maybe up to 4 puffs every now and again. They are the best things to be invented.

I don’t think it’s safe to vape around your children

Well DUH, that’s obvious. The question is how dangerous ecigs are

Great article Carl and thank you.
Additionally, we should not ignore the fact that tobacco also contains radioactive materials. A by product of fertilization and tobacco yields Lead-210 and polonium-210 alpha and gamma radiation. The radioactive particles settle in smokers lungs, where they build up as long as the person smokes.
Source: epa.gov

In my point of view, the e-cigarette is dangerous for health.Every year huge no. of peoples dies due to smoking (cancer, TB). Smoking also affects the environment and also the person who is nearest to the smokers. While reading this news (https://omgnews.today/electronic-cigarettes-harms-lungs/) I found many disadvantages of smoking.

I have smoked for fourth plus yes and finally decided enough is enough. At first I smoked and used the e-cig. It didn’t make sense so I put all the tobaco out and have a new and better unit. So, three months without tobacco and all is fine. Like one of the other commentors said, tobacco, never again. I was just questioning what is the latest research on the subject? I’m glad I checked it out.
If your still using tobacco, your not doing yourself right.

Before people say they don’t work or make them ill have you tried all types of devices no. have you every used other types of e-liquids nope. You all try one style of liquid and one type of device. Then say it no good. That is not how some one should be trying vaping at all. There 100s of devices and liquids and ways to vape so do some research before you just buy a pice of junk. You will notice lots of benefits in the end.

This article is now on my bookmark bar. Thank you
for writing this.

I disagree, read http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/23/521096488/doctor-turns-up-possible-treatment-for-deadly-sepsis
Venus

Hi Renee,
Thanks for your question. The vapour you breathe into your lungs from your e-cigarette is the evaporated form of the e-liquid contained in the device. This is made up of many tiny droplets of the liquid, and forms the cloud you see when you breathe out again.
The evidence from the study featured in this blog post shows that breathing in this vapour from an e-cigarette appears to be far less harmful than breathing in smoke from tobacco.
Best wishes,
Carl, Cancer Research UK

I have never felt so ill in my life! I’m convinced Vaping is not the way forward. I’ve had to stop and can no longer force myself to keep doing it. I’ve been vaping for 17 month 3-6mg Nicotine, I feel like I’m constantly sucking in air and can feel my stomach expanding, feel tired and nausea comes and goes while I’m using it, causes indigestion through sucking in all of the air not to mention the chemical taste, it’s done nothing but make me miserable, I’m so glad Ive stopped and my symptoms have all gone, I definitely don’t it’s the answer

I smoked for 30+ years & tried NRT patches which for me didn’t work. When my Dad changed to e-cigs after smoking for 60+ years, I decided to try it. I’ve been vaping for for 3.5 years now & have absolutely no intention of smoking ever again.

My clothes & hair are always fresh, I don’t smell of smoke all the time. I don’t have a cough any more & make sure I’m not behind a smoker when I’m out. I have a choice whether to be in the ‘firing line’ of their smoke or to simply be out of the way of it, which for me is no big deal.

I had unrelated inflammatory breast cancer which was one of the most serious & all I can say to the gentleman who was quite adamant in his views is that each time I was hospitalised I saw people dying from lung cancer & believe me that’s something you never forget.

Everyone has the right to be treated whether they are couch potatoes eating fast food, alcoholics, smokers, the list of addictions in endless, or people who have a healthy lifestyle. We are all individual human beings & deserve to be treated with respect & dignity.

Thank you NHS & CancerResearchUK. Without you & the love & support of my family I wouldn’t be here today & that’s a fact.

Keep up the good work.

I was a 30 plus year smoker and have totally quit by using an e cig. I enjoy vaping but wonder if I am breathing in any sort of liquid into my lungs. Is this true or no?

It is amazing and great news .I am an ex-smoker and have been for the last 40 years but my son is a smoker and he uses the e-cigarettes and as much as I would like him to stop after reading this article it puts my mind at rest know that he is at low risk when he is using the e-cigarette . PS thank Dr Lion Shahab and his team for all the hard work that is carried out.

Its amazing article and great news for all the vapers. I hope they will soon reach to the bottom of the issue- that is lack of enough scientific evidence about e cig. This research is great addition to the current efforts by many researchers

Hi Susan,
Thanks for the comment.
The evidence so far shows that passively breathing vapour from e-cigarettes is unlikely to be harmful. We’re funding a range of projects on e-cigarettes, including ones looking at their safety and health impact.
You may also find this blog post, which answers a number of common questions about the safety of e-cigarettes, interesting.
Thanks,
Carl, Cancer Research UK

I would like to see research into the effectsof the vapour on the Lungs. What is the effect of taking these warmed chemicals into the delicate lungs? What chemicals are “safe” to inhale when warmed? As a non smoker, I am surrounded by friends who now use vaping devices. They never stop all evening, there is no break or routine like with a cigarette. At the end of a night out with my friends the secondary effects to me of the vapour is, dry nose, sore throat often swollen eyes or sinus pain! The next morning I feel like I have a cold. I am sure i am not the only sensitive person on the planet. Please do more research quickly.

@Steve Johnson – Definitely an angry man who’s ire is directed at the wrong place. Here are a couple of facts :

Cost of Smoking Related illness to the NHS : Apx £2 Billion Annually
Tax Receipts from Tobacco & Related Product Sales : Apx £10 Billion Annually

That points to an £8 Billion net gain for the Government, which, if given to the NHS and/or Cancer Research would add additional fund in the fight against cancer and the research needed to advance it.

Tell me, have you had a drink? Do you enjoy a pint? If that’s the case, and you do, you sir, are a hypocrite. Drinking is a known cause of cancer, seven types if my reading on this very site remains correct. Not to mention the huge number of other non-cancerous effects, not just to the person concerned, but to society as a whole. Alcoholism, Drink Drivers, Domestic abuse, mental health issues, criminal behaviours – the list goes on.

After smoking, and obesity, Alcohol is a known detriment to health – however, unlike smoking, and to an extent, obesity, alcohol harms society in many more direct ways. A smoker, assuming they smoke only in designated areas, will only be killing themselves. An inebriated person (or even impaired only slightly) driving their car, risks everyone around them, regardless of their smoking, drinking, eating habits, their age, background or race.

Figures to consider –
Direct Cost to the NHS for Alcohol Related Treatment – £3.5 Billion Annually
Cost to the Justice System for Alcohol Related Crime – between £8 and £11 Billion Annually
Cost through Lost Work Days and Productivity Loss – Upwards of £7 Billion Annually

Sounds like I’m bashing drinking, and maybe I am…but here, sir, is the difference between you and I…I would never, ever, deny treatment to someone who is ill, regardless of the cause of their illness. In addition, the research into Smoking Related Cancers doesnt just cover smokers – lung cancer is caused by numerous factors, only ONE of which is smoking. Cancer Research, unlike you, do not judge – their sole aim is the fight against cancer regardless of its source.

Remember that smoking is an addiction, just like alcoholism, gambling and many many other vices. You may also want to remember the Hippocratic Oath taken by all Doctors and Physicians and the message it delivers : Do No Harm

Hi Graham,
Thanks for your comment.
That’s a really good point. It will be important for future research to look at the effects of using e-cigarettes compared to not smoking or vaping. Understanding this evidence as it emerges will be a priority for us. We’re also continuing to fund research aimed at measuring the safety or harms of e-cigarettes as people look to stop smoking tobacco, as there’s still more to be done here.
Carl, Cancer Research UK

Thanks to all at CRUKresearch , Its a well needed study involving real people and not lab conditions with mice.I have been vaping for almost 6 years and the results are no surprise to me but I always point people in your direction when they say yes but no long term studies or we don’t know the long term effects and we don’t know whats in them etc etc
Its key that smokers get the right data to make a choice to switch and in doing so can save countless needless premature deaths, so I really appreciate all your work in this field.
Now we have data between smokers,NRT and vapers will there be further studies showing difference between vaping and non smokers?
This will be a great next step for the non vaping general public to fully understand the difference by putting vaping in context with not vaping, although the immediate must be to inform smokers to make a switch.
Keep up the good work

Hi J,
Thanks for your comment.
When children do use an e-cigarette it’s much more likely that they will also be a current or ex-smoker. Very few children who have never smoked a tobacco cigarette have tried e-cigarettes.
It’s also illegal in England to sell nicotine products to anyone under the age of 18, and Cancer Research UK will continue to campaign to protect children from the harms of smoking.
Something else to note is that since the introduction of e-cigarettes, there hasn’t been an increase in childhood smoking rates in Great Britain. So e-cigarettes don’t appear to be acting as a gateway towards smoking tobacco cigarettes.
Carl, Cancer Research UK

E-cigarettes are increasingly becoming a huge problem in young children from the age of 12, I’m lead to believe. My concern is, how’s it affecting them?

Josh Groeben. “Grow a Conscience mate” First off, I’m not your mate and secondly, what about those who have died due to passive smoking? Shouldn’t Smokers also grow a Conscience or do we just accept their bad habits and addictions? Behave yourself! I want the money I donate to go to Cancer Patients who haven’t inflicted it upon themselves. You know the risks, it’s advertised enough so please do not use my money to help those smokers who decide and think they know best.

@ Steve Johnson You seem like an angry person who genuinely does not want other people to try to better their health. “Do not use my money to help smokers who have Cancer” is a horrible thing to say. Are you saying you don’t care if people slowly and painfully die? And if smoking was so easy to quit don’t you think everyone would do it?

Nicotine is one of the most studied drugs in the world and there is still no consensus on how bad the effects of it are. Some studies even show it having positive effects as a neuro-stimulator and nootropic.

I am in the Armed Forces and have many friends who smoke, some quite heavily. I would personally love if my friends and colleagues would move to e-cigs. When studies find that it is 95-97% better for you then smoking it can only do wonders for their health to switch.

Grow a conscience mate.

Personally, I believe all forms of inhalation of Nicotine should be discouraged. I have always been against smoking especially as a serving member of The Armed Forces where it was rife. Many a day I would have to sit alongside colleagues and have to endure smoking in the passive form.
Today whilst travelling back from Barcelona on an EasyJet flight, I had to remind a passenger that it is illegal to use an E-Cigarette on the plane. Before you know it Restaurants and other Public places will be allowing E-Smokers to again pollute the air we breathe.
With articles like this it encourages people to continue the disgusting habit of blowing second hand smoke/vapour in non smokers faces.
I for one did not sign up to give a donation each month for it to be used to help smokers recover from Cancer. You smokers know the risks involved with smoking and I personally do not want to help you. After living and working with smokers I never once put a Cigarette to my mouth. Not even to try it once.
You get one chance at life. Smoke and you will regret it. Do not use my money to help smokers who have Cancer.

well on valetines day last year I told my wife I would stop smoking there and then and I would only use e cigs. Well now a year later I really did not smoke one more cigarettes. In fact I don’t like the smell anymore and I think the taste of a non flavoured tobacco with nicotine tastes better than the actual cig.

So I would recommend any smoker to give it a real try and find out about what it can do for you!

good luck, Martin

@Paul Adams. The study of diacetyl (popcorn lung) was taken out of context and relates to certain flavour concentrates. A counter study showed that this was as low as 1 100th the amount of a traditional cigarette.

A lot of studies try to put a negative view on vaporizers without comparing them to normal cigarettes and some of them even use devices outside the normal use e.g.cbs news using a device at 5v to get it to cause a breakdown in glycerol to cause formaldehyde when the device used was not mean to be used above 3.7 – 4.2v.

We need more unbiased research that like Cancer Research UK who use study groups to accuratley gather data from the normal use of vaporizers.

I am a vape user of almost 3 years and likes ti regularly looks at studies.

Hope this helps.

Nathan

Not trying to be awkward here but what about the evidence that some e-cigarettes contain diacetyl the cause of bronchiolitis obliterans (popcorn lung)?

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your comment, that’s an interesting question.
It’s unclear what may have caused the low levels of the chemicals found in the e-cigarette and NRT users, as the study didn’t look at other factors such as secondhand smoke or other possible sources of toxicants.
Best wishes,
Nick, Cancer Research UK

Good spot, Melek. Thanks. We’ve added in a link and the reference.
Nick, Cancer Research UK

You need to link or cite the study. I feel I shouldn’t have to say this but apparently I do.

I’ve been vaping for 8 years, haven’t had a cigarette for 6 years. My persistent cough is gone. I feel so much better. So whatever these studies say, I know how much my life has changed since I switched.

Could the tiny levels of these dangerous chemicals detected in the ecig study group be caused by the fact that here in the USA (not sure about UK) vapors are forced into the “Smoking Area” where we are surrounded by real cigs?

As mentioned when i was diagnosed with lung cancer 16 months ago, preferably you smoke reputable producers vaping liquid and not any shop corner suppliers, where you could be inhaling all sorts of other poisons into your body.

Choose your poison: Inhaling vaporised liquid, many of which liquids aren’t regulated so you don’t really know what you taking, or inhale smoke? I heard something of popcorn lung being caused by vaping and we all know how bad cigarettes can be.

The act of vaping is essentially what drug users have been doing for years on end, called Chasing the dragon. Here in South Africa, there’s a substance called sugars or woonga that contains heroine and other household chemicals that’s taken in the same way as vaping. Not as fancy with the battery and element but same process none the less.Food for thought?

I managed to swap over to vaping from smoking without any problems. I’ve been vaping for about two years now and I cannot stand cigarettes now.

I gave up smoking a week ago with the help of the smoking cessation team at my Drs surgery and iQuit. I have patches and used an inhaler for the first 3 days but the inhaler made me feel sick. I bought a vape epen and it’s really helped. It’s good to know that they are safer than cigarettes.

Good to see some positive news. Look forward to the follow up.

I would take slight issue with the statement “The full benefit of using e-cigarettes is from completely stopping smoking,” Full benefit comes in many guises, including enjoying vaping for what it is in its own right, including enjoying flavours.

Smokers my still wish to smoke for the rapid nicotine hit, and also vape for other reasons.

“But this doesn’t mean that e-cigarettes are entirely without harm.”

Can I ask who is stating this as fact? Because I’ve never heard any e-cig user claiming this, nor any vendor. In fact, the only people who claim that e-cigs are objectively harmless as a fact (so they can point out that they are not) are those in tobacco control and public health. I’m not even joking.

What they are is *relatively* harmless compared to lit tobacco, which is not only a perfectly valid piece of objective assessment based on the evidence we have, and the materials science we know extremely well (although in a slightly backhanded way – e-cigarette use long term might be like losing the tips of all your fingers, whereas smoking is like being run over a series of articulated lorries, that are on fire, such is the massive harm smoking does) but that relative harm *is* the actual important point; as from any population level data anyone wishes to pick from, regular users of e-cigarettes are *almost entirely without exception* smokers and former smokers.

And by that I mean more than once a week, never mind at least once a day (which would be a true measure of a formed habit, rather than just toying with it) – the ‘any use in the past 30 days’ measurement used in the US is quite patently a deliberately poor measure chosen for political purposes. It’s as stupid as claiming that anyone who has had a glass of wine in the last 30 days is a functional alcoholic.

Given that we can comfortably say that almost without exception, all e-cig users are former or current smokers, then the relative harm to the vast majority of users from e-cigs is actually a *negative* harm – that is, a net benefit to their health.

As you correctly point out, chemical levels in dual users may be similar to normal smokers, but you have to look at actual changes in health; for example, I know a smoker who has one fag in the morning, and one at night, and fill in the rest of the day with an e-cig. I’m sure he’d show up as having notable levels of noxious crap in his system from those tabs, but he can now walk up quarter mile, one in three hill without getting hopelessly out of breath on the way. Twice.

That is a massive net gain to him – he has enough stamina where regular exercise is now A Thing He Can Consider, which previously he’d not have even thought of because who wants to be coughing up phlegm gems in the gym showers after a workout? So now he gyms (irregularly) and has lost a few pounds. He seems to be in a much better frame of mind and more confident, too. This is a massive benefit to him. But he’d still show ‘smoker’ levels of chemicals in his blood. Chemicals are not the whole story, not by a long shot.

Whilst I appreciate that CRUK have to be very considerate in terms of any position they take, and to be cautious with any statements to that effect, I do think it would to the Public Health community at large a world of good if they were to stop focusing entirely on statistical and chemical measurements, and actually *speak* to users of these devices and see the massive difference they make to their quality of life, and factor that into their studies and positions – and without wishing to get to morbid, I’m sure that quality of life is something CRUK would be familiar with for many of those it works with/for, and is not something that you’d discount lightly.

There is far, far more to this than just numbers and measurements and the sooner those of us who are generally on side with harm reduction can get those who are ideologically opposed to harm reduction (and that is *exactly* what it is, given the very strong evidence of the relative harms from e-cigs and lit tobacco – there is now no excuse to claim otherwise) to stop spreading their utter crap in the press – be it mendacious statistics twiddling (such as in the US, where they deliberately conflate lit tobacco – which kills – and smokeless tobacco of any kind – which quite simply, does not), or openly lying, as recently done by a senior tobacco control wonk in Australia, where it was claimed that smoking levels in the US haven’t dropped but have in fact risen.

This was on *national television*. He wasn’t corrected on it. People in Australia now think that the US has more smoking than before, despite all the evidence proving beyond any measure of doubt otherwise. And this person who shall remain nameless, will *never* get called up on this, because they work in Public Health. Who watches the watchers, etc.

There needs to be a sea change in attitude, and a root and branches rethink of our attitude towards significantly reduced harm alternatives to products that kill over a million people in the US and Western Europe alone. Every. Single. Year. And that’s before you start looking at property damage (three housefires a day – in London alone – are directly attributable to lit tobacco), pollution, etc caused by lit tobacco that either aren’t applicable to reduced risk products (I’m quite sure Snus hasn’t started any house fires, ever) or are massively reduced (The fact that battery fires related to e-cigs are newsworthy is testament to how rare they are – notice how you don’t see news stories about cigarette fires…) by these products.

That we even have to discuss, after all the evidence we have of the lack of acute harm, and the lack of any objective evidence of harm in the longest term users (who are heading towards a decade of use) whether these products are ‘safe enough’ is utterly mind-boggling.

This isn’t the 60s any more, where Big Tobacco has influence over the media and politicians, and can hide research it doesn’t like – we have Pubmed Commons, where critique is open; and the horrible, horrible irony is that the tobacco industries research is world class and open to all as they try to be whiter than white and claw back some of their reputation, and it’s the *public health research* that is being shown again and again and again to be utterly woeful, full of holes, unrealistically set up, deliberately misleading, failing to compare harm etc – yet still gets breathless front page press coverage *every* time it comes out, with no recourse for correction, even before it’s been formally peer reviewed or published in many cases!

As David Sweanor likes to recount, it’d be like if when refrigerators came out, people were finding problems like the fact that they didn’t go *quite* to 2deg C, and sometimes fluttered around 3deg C and that getting front page news (Big Elecric is lying again, remember when Edison electrocuted an elephant, he can’t be trusted!) as opposed to actually encouraging this imperfect, but damned well good enough method of food preservation – while, all the time, people are still dying of stomach cancer because of eating poorly preserved food.

That’s literally the level of debate we have on this matter at the moment regarding lit tobacco and trying to reduce the scourge it has on the health of the world, and it staggers me that This Is Even A Thing.

Steven R
Near five years a non-smoker.