More than ten years has passed since the appearance of the e-cigarettes. And since then, e-cigarettes have enjoyed a great popularity. Take Great Britain as an example, there are 
almost 3,000,000 Britons using e-cigarettes now. Although quite a few studies have proved that e-cigarettes are safer than smoking, there is still a huge misapprehension that vaping is as harmful as smoking, which could prevent smokers who might otherwise benefit from switching to it. Now a new study from a group of scientists at University College London helps put to rest this fear. They found vaping is far safer than smoking.
Vaping is far safer than smoking
As we all know, one of the world’s leading causes of death is tobacco smoking. Every year, around 6,000,000 people died of the diseases caused by smoking. In cigarette smoke, there are more than 5,000 chemicals, at least seventy of which may contribute to cancer.
The e-cigarettes, however, do not contain any tobacco. Instead, the liquids they carry may contain nicotine which can be heated into vapor and breathed in. For people who have nicotine addiction, this way can also satisfy their needs but doesn’t lead to cancer. E-cigarettes do not produce smoke, within which numerous chemicals are found. Therefore, these devices should be much safer than smoking.
However, when e-cigarettes first hit the shelves, the research was not sufficient to make sure of this. Early studies proved the levels of harmful chemicals in the the liquids of e-cigarettes and the vapor they produce are not as high as tobacco cigarettes. As a matter of fact, these levels in e-liquid and vapor are so low that Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians think vaping is around ninety-five percent safer than smoking.
Just how safe are they?
The study followed a group of vapers, who had been vaping for 17 months on average, and estimated the levels of nicotine and other potentially harmful chemicals in their body through researching into the samples of their urine and saliva. After that, the team compared the results with cigarette smokers. They also researched into people who used nicotine replacement therapies, which is normally help people quit smoking or as a smoking alternative.
“We looked at nicotine replacement therapies users for we know these products are safe to use,” says Shahab. “We think they would be a good comparison,” he adds, because users get their nicotine from a smoke-free source, much like e-cigarette users.
Interestingly, e-cigarette users’ nicotine levels found in the samples were quite similar to those who used nicotine replacement therapies. The key finding came when the group researched into the samples of potentially toxic chemical levels. They found a chemical, NNAL, the main cause of lung cancer, was ninety-seven lower in vapers than in smokers. Moreover, they also found the NNAL level in vapers is very similar to the level in people using nicotine replacement therapies. “We have three decades of researching into the safety of nicotine replacement therapies, and we’ve not picked up any significant long-term health issues,” he said.
What does this mean right now?
This study confirms vaping is much safer than smoking, so if you are a smoker, for your health, the best thing you can do is to stop smoking. And many smokers have managed to quit smoking by using e-cigarettes.
Ryan
Ryan is a vaper, editor and content creator who spends most of his time bringing the interesting, entertaining, original and well-written articles to vapers. He believes that vaping is not only a healthier alternative to smoking, but also a great experience of life.
