E-cigarettes: How risky are they?
By: World Health Organization
Tags: Health, Vaping, Addiction, Smoking

Are e-cigarettes and other vaping products dangerous?

There are many different types of e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are the most common form of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and electronic non-nicotine delivery systems (ENNDS) but there are others, such as e-cigars, e-pipes, etc. ENDS contain varying amounts of nicotine and harmful emissions.

E-cigarette emissions typically contain nicotine and other toxic substances that are harmful to both users, and non-users who are exposed to the aerosols secondhand. Some products claiming to be nicotine-free have been found to contain nicotine.

Evidence reveals that these products are harmful to health and are not safe. However, it is too early to provide a clear answer on the long-term impact of using them or being exposed to them.

They are particularly risky when used by children and adolescents. Nicotine is highly addictive and young people’s brains develop up to their mid-twenties. Exposure to nicotine of children and adolescents can have long-lasting, damaging effects on brain development and there is risk of nicotine addiction.

Furthermore, there is a growing body of evidence in some settings that never-smoker minors who use ENDS at least double their chance of starting to smoke conventional tobacco cigarettes later in life.

ENDS use increases the risk of heart disease and lung disorders. They also pose significant risks to pregnant women who use them, as they can damage the growing fetus.

ENDS also expose non-smokers and bystanders to nicotine and other harmful chemicals.

Exposure of children to ENDS liquid continues to pose serious risks. There is a risk of the devices leaking, or of children swallowing the liquid, and ENDS have been known to cause serious injuries, including burns, through fires and explosions.

Do e-cigarettes (ENDS) cause lung injuries?

There is growing evidence that ENDS could be associated with lung injuries and in recent times e-cigarette and vaping have been linked to an outbreak of lung injury in the USA. This is described by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as ‘e-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury’ (EVALI), which led the CDC to activate an emergency investigation into EVALI on 17 September 2019.

The CDC says “as of 14 January 2020, there have been a total of 2,668 cases of EVALI reported from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands, including 60 deaths confirmed in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Among 2,022 hospitalized cases with information on substances used, 1,650 (82%) reported using any THC-containing product, and 1,162 (57%) reported using any nicotine-containing product; 669 (33%) reported exclusive THC-containing product use, and 274 (14%) reported exclusive nicotine-containing product use.” Further information on this incident, including a strong link of the EVALI outbreak to Vitamin E Acetate and the latest report, is available at https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html, which is updated every week, as the evidence is not sufficient to exclude the contribution of other chemicals.

At least five other countries have initiated investigations to identify cases of lung injuries related to the EVALI cases reported in the US.