Is secondhand vaping something to be concerned about?
“Vaping and secondhand vaping is just as dangerous,” clarifies Nader Nakhleh, D.O., a board certified pediatric pulmonologist. “Now it is our mission as experts to change the conversation around vaping from being a ‘better’ alternative to smoking to actually being equally as detrimental.”
What are the side effects of second hand vaping?
Who’s most at risk?
- Infants and children. Vape aerosols pose an especially high risk for infants and children because of their lower body weight and developing respiratory systems.
- Pregnant people. We’ve known for a long time that nicotine exposure during pregnancy is risky. ...
- People with lung conditions. ...
Is secondhand vape smoke bad for You?
Those with pre-existing lung or breathing conditions are also at a greater risk: If you have asthma or a related condition, the effects of secondhand vaping may be heightened. The aerosol in vapor can cause throat and respiratory irritation, so if you're already feeling a little sick or have a sore throat, you could feel much worse.
Is second hand vaping harmful?
Vaping can cause severe health issues, but breathing in secondhand vapor is dangerous too.
Does second hand vape do anything?
Along with nicotine, nonvapers are also exposed to ultrafine particles from secondhand vape aerosol, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Secondhand vape aerosol also contains several known carcinogens that may increase the risk of certain cancers. These carcinogens include: lead.
Is secondhand vaping worse?
The researchers reported that those exposed to secondhand vaping had an increased risk of bronchitis and shortness of breath, even after they took into account other possible lung health factors like active vaping or exposure to smoke from tobacco or weed.
How long does vape stay in a room?
While particles from conventional cigarette smoke linger in the air for upwards of 45 minutes, researchers found that those stemming from e-vapor products evaporate within seconds, even indoors.
How long does vape smell stay in the air?
Even in a poorly ventilated area with windows shut, any smells from vaping should be gone in only ten minutes or so, instead of lasting around for hours like smoking. When one is vaping outdoors in comparison, the smell from your vape will hardly be noticeable at all and will disappear extremely quickly.
How does an e-cigarette work?
E-cigarette devices use metal coils to heat the vaping fluid, and over time, small amounts of metals can sometimes get into the aerosol after repeated use at high temperatures. 6 . While the person vaping will breathe in the full brunt of these toxins, some will be exhaled into the air.
What is the compound that is absorbed by the lungs?
Formaldehyde: This is a compound created when solvents like propylene glycol and glycerin are heated up by the vaping device. It’s readily absorbed by the lungs and can be toxic—possibly even cancer-causing—in high doses. 3
How does second hand smoking affect the world?
Secondhand smoking kills tens of thousands of people every year in the United States alone. It can cause sudden infant death syndrome and lung issues in children. In adults, it can lead to serious health conditions later in life, such as stroke, heart disease, and lung cancer—even in people who never smoked themselves. 1
How many states are banning smoking in 2020?
According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, as of January 2020, 19 states and over 900 municipalities have included e-cigarettes and other electronic smoking devices in their laws and policies banning smoking in certain environments, such as schools or workplaces. 11 .
What is acrolein in e-cigarettes?
Acrolein: This is a compound made when glycerin is heated by the coils in an e-cigarette. It can irritate the respiratory tract, including the delicate tissue of the lungs. 4
Is vaping bad for you?
There isn’t a lot of research done on the health harms of secondhand vaping. Early studies suggest that the risks posed by secondhand vaping are substantially lower than secondhand smoking, but that's a low bar considering how hard cigarette smoke is on the body. The aerosol produced by electronic cigarettes and other aerosolizers can still contain potentially dangerous toxins, including nicotine. We don’t yet know how these toxins affect the body long-term, particularly for young children who are exposed to vaping aerosol for many years and during crucial periods of development.
Is second hand vaping bad for you?
Secondhand Vaping as a Gateway. In addition to the still uncertain health risks associated with breathing in e-cigarette aerosol, being around people who vape could have other consequences—particularly for adolescents who are more likely to be influenced by social norms and visual cues.
What is secondhand vaping?
Secondhand vaping is exactly what it sounds like: if you're near a person breathing out vapor from an e-cigarette, you generally breathe in the same air that they're exhaling and can inhale the same vapor.
Can second hand vaping cause respiratory irritation?
Those with pre-existing lung or breathing conditions are also at a greater risk: If you have asthma or a related condition, the effects of secondhand vaping may be heightened. The aerosol in vapor can cause throat and respiratory irritation, so if you're already feeling a little sick or have a sore throat, you could feel much worse.
What to do if someone uses e-cigarettes?
If someone close to you, like a parent, caretaker or coworker, uses e-cigarettes, you can kindly ask them to stop while you're around. Frame it as a way to protect both your health and theirs, and hopefully they'll respect your wishes.
Why is it harder for teens to remove themselves from social situations?
Teenagers are typically much more impressionable to peer pressure than their older counterparts, so it's harder for many of them to remove themselves from social situations that pose a health risk. Personally, I was already so embarrassed by just being in middle school that I can't imagine speaking up if I saw someone using an e-cigarette.
Is vaping a health risk?
E-cigarettes can emit a huge cloud of vapor that can affect an entire crowd of people. Getty Images. When vaping first gained popularity, it was marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. However, a recent surge in illnesses, hospitalizations -- and even deaths -- has shown that there may be much scarier health risks associated ...
Does vaping harm the lungs?
The vapor can also harm bystanders ' lungs and contribute to lasting damage ...
Does vapor contain nicotine?
Another study from 2018 found that the vapor not only contains nicotine, but also heavy metals, aldehyde and glycerin, even though vaporizer companies try to paint these products as healthier in every way. These chemicals contribute to the health risk posed by secondhand vaping.
Studies on Vaping and Second Hand Aerosol
Studies such as a 2017 UC San Diego depict a different message than what has been in the headlines. Researchers went into 193 homes to measure fine particles left behind by smokers and vapers living inside the residence. They found no effect on the air quality due to vaping.
So, is second hand vape dangerous?
Unfortunately, because vaping is still fairly new and long term studies, for the most part, have not been done to state a certain answer, the question of "is second-hand vape bad?" is for now inconclusive.
What is secondhand vapor?
Secondhand vapor (which is technically an aerosol) is the vapor exhaled into the atmosphere by an e-cig user. Like secondhand smoke, it lingers in the air long enough that anyone in the same room (assuming the room is small enough) is likely to inhale some of the exhaled aerosol. As the name indicates, the bystanders are not inhaling secondhand (or passive) smoke—because secondhand e-cigarette vapor simply isn’t smoke.
Is secondhand vapor dangerous?
In Public Health England’s updated 2018 evidence review, the agency’s experts analyzed several new studies of passive exposure that had been published since the original 2015 PHE e-cig report. They concluded—again—that “to date there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.”
What is the order of magnitude of burstyn?
Orders of magnitude are multiples of 10—so, 10 – 100 – 1,000 – 10,000 , and so on. What Burstyn means is that the exposure to toxic chemicals in secondhand vapor is so slight as to pose no real threat. Whatever the risk may be to the users themselves, it is 10 or 100, or even 1,000 or 10,000, times lower for the bystander.
What is the difference between e-cigarettes and vapor?
E-cigs heat e-liquid with a small metal coil housed in an atomizer , and the heat turns the e-juice into the vapor you see. E-cigarette vapor doesn’t have any carbon monoxide or tar, and the particles in the aerosol are liquid rather than solid. Dangerous chemicals and metals are found in vapor, but only in tiny quantities.
Is third hand nicotine inhaled or exhaled?
What isn’t inhaled falls to the ground quite rapidly. Those concerned with “thirdhand nicotine”—the unabsorbed nicotine that lands on floors and furniture—might make a case for not vaping around kids or pets who might lick the surfaces. But there’s not much nicotine left in the settled residue. According to a 2016 University of California-San Francisco study, 93.8 percent of the inhaled nicotine is retained by the user, and is not part of the exhaled vapor.
Does vaping contain VG?
Aside from propylene glycol and glycerin (PG and VG) —the two glycols that make up the base of virtually all e-liquids—what vapers exhale into the air doesn’t contain high levels of anything. According to Drexel University toxicologist Igor Burstyn, while the contents of e-cig vapor inhaled by users “justifies surveillance,” there is so little contamination in exhaled vapor that there is unlikely to be any risk for bystanders.
Can you vape inside a house?
If you encounter people vaping inside a house, all of the secondhand vapor you see comes out of the mouths of the vapers in the room. There is no side stream “vape smoke” like there is side stream tobacco smoke from cigarettes—no constant emission of vapor pouring from the device when it’s not being used.
What are the chemicals that can be inhaled deep into the lungs?
Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. Flavoring like diacetyl, a chemical linked to a serious, irreversible lung disease called obliterative bronchiolitis. So-called volatile organic compounds, or gases emitted into the air that may have adverse health effects. Cancer-causing chemicals.
How does nicotine affect the brain?
Nicotine can impact the developing structure of the brain – altering reward pathways that navigate positive reinforcement in the brain – so that a child becomes more vulnerable, or is at increased risk, for becoming addicted to products that contain nicotine and other drugs in the future.
What are the causes of cancer?
Cancer-causing chemicals. Heavy metals, including nickel, tin and lead. The American Cancer Society notes that the cancer-causing substance formaldehyde, for one, may form "if e-liquid overheats or not enough liquid is reaching the heating element (known as a "dry-puff").". "People don't, I think, always realize that the secondhand smoke emissions ...
Why is quitting smoking the best thing?
Aside from a parent's own health, quitting is best because kids often follow the example of their parents. "Kids whose parents use cigarettes are up to four times more likely to use – to become smokers themselves – during the teenage years," he says.
Does e-cigarette smoke affect lung function?
Animal research shows that exposure to e-cigarette vapor leads to a decrease in the growth of tiny air sacs called alveoli in developing lungs. Based on such findings, while not definitively known since e-cigarettes haven't been on the market for long, exposure to nicotine early on in childhood may mean decreases in lung function, he says. What's more, where secondhand smoke can contribute to higher levels of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, secondhand vaping could possibly lead to problems with attention and hyperactivity as well, he says.
Can you get asthma from vaping?
And a study published in the journal Chest in January 2019 found that teens with asthma who were exposed to secondhand aerosol, without vaping themselves, were more likely to have an asthma attack.
Is second hand smoke bad for you?
Secondhand smoke from traditional cigarettes is known to cause tens of thousands of deaths annually in the U.S., and is implicated in some infant deaths, or sudden infant death syndrome. Likewise, chemicals in e-cigarette aerosol may also contribute to secondhand health problems. "People who are doing the vaping themselves, ...
How much has the use of vapes increased in the past year?
The usage of these electronic smoking devices—AKA e-cigarettes or vapes— has skyrocketed in the past year or so. Among high school teens, for example, there’s been a 78 percent increase in vape usage between 2017 and 2018, a report by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found. And there’s reason to be concerned even if you’re not vaping: Just like cigarettes, e-cigarettes (whether they contain nicotine, marijuana, or something else) emit toxic secondhand aerosol.
What to do if you are unhappy with second hand vaping?
If you’re unhappy with secondhand vaping at local restaurants, parks, or other public places, speak up. Ask places you frequent to make their facilities smoke-free, and if you're somewhere that's supposed to be a no smoking zone but patrons aren't following suit, tell someone in a position of authority. And if you're exposed to secondhand vape because someone you love smokes or vapes, talk to them about quitting. (Get the conversation stated with these tips from NoButts.org .)
How long does it take to understand the dangers of second hand smoke?
It took decades for people to fully understand the dangers of secondhand cigarette smoke; hopefully, it won’t take as long to realize just how dangerous all types of secondhand smoke can be.
How many people die from second hand smoke?
The dangers of secondhand cigarette smoke—in your home and outdoors—are well-established: It kills over 41,000 non-smoking adults in the U.S. every year, according to a Surgeon General report. And secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same cancer-causing substances and toxic chemicals as secondhand tobacco smoke (like ammonia and hydrogen cyanide), according to research published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.
How many brands of e-cigarettes are there?
Research on the impact of secondhand aerosol inhalation is still in development, and it doesn’t help that there are over 460 brands of e-cigarettes on the market. “Because these are not regulated, we don’t know exactly what chemicals are even in each kind,” says Dr. Rich.
What are the chemicals in e-cigarettes?
In fact, at least 10 chemicals identified in the aerosol emitted by e-cigarettes are on California’s Proposition 65 list of carcinogens and reproductive toxins, including nicotine, formaldehyde, lead, and toluene (a compound associated with paint thinners). Further, there might be dangers we're still not aware of.
When did California ban smoking?
In 1995 California was the first state to ban smoking in the workplace, and has been a major player in leading the charge against protecting residents and visitors from harms of secondhand smoke through an array of smoking bans that include everything from e-cigarettes and cigarettes to marijuana and hookah.
How is vaping different from smoking cigarettes?
Manufacturers marketed the product to smokers as a way to inhale nicotine without the cancer-causing tar and other harmful chemicals found in tobacco cigarettes. Since then, vaping has become a trend in and of itself.
Is secondhand “smoke” from vaping harmful?
Though some may refer to it as secondhand smoke out of habit, this often sweet-smelling cloud is actually a vapor. This vapor may smell better than cigarette smoke and not linger in the air or on clothing and furniture for as long, but is it really as harmless as vapers and vape manufacturers would have you believe?
What is vaping juice?
Most devices are powered by a rechargeable battery that is used to heat the vaping liquid, turning it to an aerosol that vapers then inhale. Vaping liquids, also called e-juice or vape juice, come in a wide range of flavors—many of which may resemble desserts, fruit or candy—and contain varying levels of nicotine.
Why is vaping good?
Vaping advocates promote vaping as a safe alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes for three reasons: 1 There is no combustion, or burning, involved in vaping, meaning that people that vape “smoke” is free of many carcinogens found in cigarette smoke. 2 Vapes do not create the harmful tar that causes cigarettes to be so hazardous to public health. 3 Vape liquids may not contain the wide range of dangerous chemicals present in traditional cigarettes.
What is a vape?
Vapes—short for “vaporizers”—come in all shapes and sizes. Some are smaller and may look like traditional cigarettes or USB storage devices. Others are larger and can look more like a science project than a smoking apparatus. Despite the differences in appearance, the technology behind most vapes is relatively similar.
What are the symptoms of second hand vaping?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, potential symptoms of exposure to secondhand vaping aerosol may be similar to symptoms of exposure to any airborne pollutants and can include: Coughing or wheezing. Respiratory infections. Inflammation in the throat. Reduced lung function.
Why is nicotine harmful to children?
Children are more susceptible to the health effects associated with inhaling airborne pollutants because of their developing respiratory systems and lower body weights. Additionally, nicotine is toxic to infants and children, and nicotine exposure can have adverse health effects that include impaired brain and lung development.