Q: My teenage son started vaping against our wishes, but claims it’s much better than cigarettes. What do toxicologists think about the safety of vaping?
GG: This has been controversial because compared to cigarettes, the inhalation of nicotine vapors (known as vaping) looks like an improvement. However, one cannot consider vaping part of a healthy lifestyle. It is a nicotine delivery system that in theory can help people quit smoking. While similar in appearance to smoking a cigarette, it is without carcinogenic tars, does not cause as much sidestream smoke pollution, and one can gradually decrease the nicotine dose to wean from vaping and cigarettes. However, the opposite can occur when one develops a dependency on nicotine from vaping, and this can lead to cigarettes. Furthermore, vaping gas has lung irritants and at least one carcinogen, acetaldehyde. Some of the flavoring agents can also be toxic. Incredibly, an artificial butter flavoring agent, diacetyl, is commonly used in vaping liquids. Diacetyl was phased out of microwave popcorn because workers in those factories were getting severe lung damage from inhaling it. So you can see that there is no guarantee of safety, in part because there is very little regulation of this product. The bottom line is that if someone is already a smoker and is trying vaping as a means to stop smoking, this can have a benefit. Otherwise, you are correct in having concerns about your son getting involved with vaping.
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Dr. Gary Ginsberg is a public health toxicologist in Connecticut and a lecturer at the Yale School of Public Health. He has written a book geared toward the general public, “What’s Toxic, What's Not,” and also has a website, whatstoxic.com, to answer questions about chemicals found in consumer products and in our homes.