Vaping may not be smoking, but don’t think it isn’t a serious concern

Since vaping is fairly new to us experts don’t exactly know the long term health risks that can occur. While some concerns like “popcorn lung” may be overblown, others are very real.  Overall, on the one hand, nicotine alone is not known to be a cause of cancer, however it is still a highly addictive substance so vaping with nicotine, at the very least, will lead to dependence.

There are a lot of misconceptions are out there when it comes to vaping. The number one most inaccurate fact that follows vaping is that it is “better” for you than smoking cigarettes. It is true that, according to Health Canada, vaping is less harmful for you than smoking cigarettes, but calling it “better” might imply to some that it is “good,” which isn’t the case.

Another misconception is the fear of popcorn lung, which is “a chronic disease that damages the small airways in the lungs.” You can get popcorn lung due to a chemical called diacetyl that is used for flavoring popcorn, other food items, and vape juice. It is used to give items a butter-like flavor. Be that as it may there have been no reports that vaping causes popcorn lung.

There are, however, legitimate concerns about vaping.

The number one concern? Vaping leads to nicotine addiction. Nicotine addiction can become harmful for the future of teens as it can lead to withdraw from the substance. How long before you have to leave the classroom and take a hit from the vape? How long till you have to go to your room and close your door to hide it from your parents? How long before you have to take a break at work to go out and vape? All these things will get worse and worse as the time goes on and the addiction grows.

Studies have shown that teenagers are more prone to the toxic effects of nicotine such as loss of memory, lack of concentration, alteration of brain development, and addiction. Inhaling nicotine at a young age can reduce impulse control and can cause behavioral problems such as anger and aggression towards other people. Certain vape juices have enough nicotine to be considered poisonous and even breathing in small amounts of liquid nicotine can be harmful.   

Second hand vapour is something else to consider when vaping. Second hand vapour is not proven to be harmless and is not proven to be harmful, it contains a lot less chemicals than second hand smoke but the health effects from exposure to second hand vapour are still unknown. It is, however, safe to say that the risks are much lower compared to second hand smoke from tobacco products.  

Lastly, an issue that people who vape need to be aware of is device malfunctions. This is very uncommon but still can happen. Device malfunctions involve defective batteries in vaping products that have cause fires and explosions. Experts say that if this happens to you report the problem to the company you purchased the device from right away.

Vaping is still a very new trend and has not been researched in depth. If you decided to take it up, be careful of how often you take part.

Image credit: Wikipedia