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E cigarettes and vaping
Electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes or vaporisers, are battery-powered devices, a cigarette substitute that provides small amounts of nicotine without the tobacco or other chemicals from real cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are made up of 3 parts:
- a tank to hold the e-liquid (contains the nicotine and flavouring)
- an atomiser to heat e-liquid (roughly 100 - 250 °C within a chamber)
- a battery to power the atomiser (1000 - 5000mAh approx)
The main substances making up the liquid in the e-cigarettes are nicotine (which comes in varying strengths), propylene glycol, glycerin, and some flavours/ smells/ aromas ... from fruit favours to bubblegum to coke. [Yes, we've just thrown up a bit in the back of our collective throats]. The e-liquid is heated to make a vapour that looks like the smoke from real cigarettes carrying the nicotine to the lungs where it is absorbed.
Acknowledged that vaping is less harmful than smoking there is a focus on determining what issues and harms e-cigarettes and vaping may cause. Although not harmless, the evidence is that vaping is safer than smoking.
However, it's worth bearing in mind that the history of modern-day cigarettes has been going on for decades while the e-cigarette was only invented in 2003. So, the e-cigarette narrative has yet to run its course, and we have a lot still to learn, particularly concerning what damage and harm they may cause.
The recent spate of news about the harms and deaths vaping causes does not appear to bode well for either users or the industry. Watch this space!
Smoking vs Vaping | AsapSCIENCE | 16 Aug 2015 | 4m 19s
Is vaping safe? | British Heart Foundation
Are e-cigarettes harmful? | Cancer Research UK
E cigarettes | NHS
Electronic cigarette | Wikipedia
Construction of electronic cigarettes | Wikipedia
Positions of medical organisations on electronic cigarettes | Wikipedia
News and articles
Disposable vapes to be banned for children's health, government says | BBC | 29 Jan 2024
Ministers set to ban single-use vapes in UK over child addiction fears | The Guardian | 11 Sep 2023
Is vaping nicotine the answer to quitting smoking? Positive Living | AUS | 29 Jun 2023
How much nicotine is in a cigarette compared to a vape? | The Guardian | 23 Jun 2023
Lobbyists with links to Big Tobacco fund pro-vaping Facebook campaigns | The Guardian | 18 Jun 2023
Vaping: High lead and nickel found in illegal vapes | BBC News | 23 May 2023
Can vaping help people quit smoking? It’s unlikely | The Conversation | 3 May 2023
No, vapes aren’t 95% less harmful than cigarettes. Here’s how this decade-old myth took off | The Conversation | 27 Apr 2023
UK plan to encourage smokers to take up vaping means swapping one health risk with another | The Conversation | 25 Apr 2023
No, vapes aren’t 95% less harmful than cigarettes. Here’s how this decade-old myth took off | The Conversation | 17 Apr 2023
How bad is vaping and should it be banned? | THe Conversation | 20 Mar 2023
Wellness vapes: what you need to know about vaping vitamins and other supplements | The conversation | 16 Aug 2022
Advice for Retailers and Producers | 23 Mar 2022 | GOV.UK
Is it better to vape than smoke? Definitely, but it’s still worse than quitting entirely | The Guardian | 17 Apr 2022
A damning review of e-cigarettes shows vaping leads to smoking, the opposite of what supporters claim | The Conversation | 6 Apr 2022
E-cigarettes: misconceptions about their dangers may be preventing people from quitting smoking | The Conversation | 2 Sept 2021
E-cigarettes: what we know and what we don’t | Cancer UK | 21 Apr 2021
The great vape debate: are e-cigarettes saving smokers or creating new addicts? | The Guardian | 18 Feb 2020
Vaping and heart disease: setting the record straight | The Conversation | 2 Feb 2020
Vaping nearly killed me, says British teenager | BBC | 12 Nov | 2019
"An increasing number of countries are banning e-cigarettes – here’s why" | The Conversation | 23 Sep 2019
After six deaths in the US and bans around the world – is vaping safe? | The Observer | 15 Sep 2019
UK attacked for defence of flavoured e-cigarettes | The Guardian | 14 Sep 2019
What's behind a vaping illness outbreak in the US? | BBC Newsbeat | 11 Sep 2019
Vaping deaths: 'A new generation of nicotine addicts' | BBC News | 11 Sep 2019
Is vaping actually bad for your health? It's complicated | Wired | 29 Aug 2019
Vaping’s other problem: are e-cigarettes creating a recycling disaster? | The Guardian | 27 Aug 2019
Vaping criticism will only protect cigarette trade, leading NZ academic says | 1 News Now (AU) | 29 Aug 2019
'First vape death in the US' recorded in Illinois | BBC | 24 Aug 2019
Can we stop America's teen vaping epidemic arriving in Britain? | The Guardian | 11 Aug 2019
E-cigarettes: How safe are they? | BBC | 26 Jun | 2019
We ignored the evidence linking cigarettes to cancer. Let's not do that with vaping | The Guardian | 16 Feb 2019
E-cigarettes 'much better for quitting smoking' | BBC | 30 Jan 2019
Vaping by young people remains a burning issue among health experts | The Guardian | 4 Jan 2019
Public Health England maintains vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking | The Guardian | 28 Dec 2018
US surgeon general urges crackdown on e-cigarettes 'epidemic' among teenagers | The Telegraph | 18 Dec 2018
Vaping: how safe is it? | The Conversation | 8 Aug 2018
Vaping: All you need to know about the smoking alternative | BBC Newsround | 17 Aug 2018
Clearing up some myths around e-cigarettes | Public Health England | 20 Feb 2018
Articles on vaping | The Conversation | 2014-2018
