Debunking Common Myths About Vaping

The e-cigarette, as a relatively new technology and one that has been tangentially connected to tobacco smoking, has faced more than its fair share of myths and falsehoods over the years.

The NHS describe using vape supplies as far less harmful than cigarettes and note that they can be an effective aid to help compulsive smokers quit the habit for good in conjunction with other smoking cessation services.

With that in mind, here are some commonly espoused myths about vaping that are the result of bad reporting, bad science or a combination of the two.

Vaping Devices Do Not Have The Same Harmful Ingredients As Cigarettes

Because vaporisers that are used to help people quit smoking invariably contain nicotine, they are sometimes connected to the exceptional harm that tobacco products such as cigarettes and cigars cause.

This is not true, but the myth primarily comes from the conflation between nicotine and the other ingredients in cigarettes such as tar and carbon monoxide which are highly dangerous if inhaled over a long time.

Nicotine itself is not a necessary ingredient for vaping outside of smoking cessation products and is only poisonous at levels found if you eat large quantities of it, are exposed to wet tobacco leaves or use agricultural grade insecticides.

Second Hand Vapour Is Not Harmful

Vaping clouds are rather pronounced, dramatic and much bigger than cigarette smoke clouds, but whilst the clouds are bigger, they are not harmful according to a Public Health England review and the risks of passive smoking are nonexistent compared to cigarettes.

Nicotine Does Not Cause Depression

A report released in 2021 strongly implied a link between nicotine products and depression, but the truth is somewhat more complicated than that, as the publisher of the study themselves admitted.

If there is a connection between the two, it is more likely according to a range of studies to be the case that people turn to nicotine products (traditionally cigarettes) to alleviate depression symptoms rather than the other way around.