electronic-safety

Electronic cigarettes (ecigs or vapes) are much less harmful than cigarettes which burn, but worse than not smoking at all. Ecigs increase the risk of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared to not using nicotine at all. Pregnant women vaping may increase the risk of their children suffering asthma and COPD, but is still safer than smoking. Vaping is associated with heart failure. Unregulated or modified ecigs or liquids may be more dangerous.
The public health community is divided over the use of these devices to reduce/prevent smoking. As of 2017 they were not approved by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a smoking cessation product, and in 2020 became regulated as a tobacco product (despite not containing tobacco). However, a 2019 study reported that 10% of participants given nicotine via gum, mouth spray, patches, etc., quit smoking, while 18% of those given vaping kits quit. Among participants still smoking, vapers smoked less. A 2021 review by Public Health England (PHE) reported vaping to be around 95% less harmful than smoking. E-cigarettes are estimated to have preserved 677,000 life–years in the US alone from 2011 to 2019.
E-cigarette use (vaping) carries some level of health risks. Reported risks (compared to not smoking) include exposure to toxic chemicals, increased likelihood of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, reduced lung function, reduced cardiac muscle function, increased inflammation, increased drug dependency, and damage to the central nervous system. Misuse, accidents, and product malfunction issues increase risks such as nicotine poisoning, contact with liquid nicotine, and fires.

Randomized controlled trials provide "high-certainty" evidence that e-cigarettes containing nicotine are more effective than nicotine replacement therapy for discontinuing tobacco smoking, and moderate‐certainty evidence that they are more effective than e-cigarettes free of nicotine.
Some of the most common but less serious adverse effects include abdominal pain, headache, blurry vision, throat and mouth irritation, vomiting, nausea, and coughing. Nicotine is addictive and harmful to fetuses, children, and young people. Passive e-cigarette vapor exposure may be harmful to children, but more studies are needed as of 2025.

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