Is vaping harmful?

What are e-cigarettes?

Electronic cigarettes, or vapes, heat a liquid to make a vapour you breathe in. Most vapes contain nicotine, which is the addictive chemical in cigarettes. E-cigarettes do not contain tobacco. Tobacco is the part of cigarettes that causes cancer.

Does vaping have side effects?

We don’t know yet about the long-term effects of vaping. Vapes haven’t been around for long enough to be sure. But research so far shows vaping is far less harmful than smoking. This is because e-cigarettes don’t contain cancer-causing tobacco or most of the toxic chemicals found in cigarettes.

E-cigarettes can contain some potentially harmful chemicals. But levels are usually low and generally far lower than in tobacco cigarettes.

There is no good evidence that vaping causes cancer.

But e-cigarettes are not risk-free. Some people get side effects when they first start vaping to stop smoking. These can include throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough and feeling sick. They often improve with time. Talk to a stop smoking advisor for help with side effects.

You should only vape to help you stop smoking or stay smokefree. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is addictive, and we don’t know what effects they might have in the long term. If you have never smoked, you shouldn’t use e-cigarettes.

Read more about the research into e-cigarettes so far and what we still need to find out.

How could switching from smoking to vaping help?

Smoking causes at least 16 different types of cancer and there’s no safe level of smoking. Stopping completely is the best thing you can do for your health and to reduce your cancer risk. Vaping can help people stop smoking and is less harmful. The NHS has more information on using vapes to stop smoking.

Find out more about the tools and support available to help you stop smoking.

When you’ve fully stopped smoking and feel confident that you can stay smokefree, you may choose to stop vaping too. But the most important thing is not smoking, and vaping can help with staying off tobacco.

Vaping also usually costs less than smoking. So, vaping could help you save money as well as stop smoking.

Is passive vaping harmful?

There is no good evidence that breathing in someone else’s vapour is harmful. But vaping is still relatively new, so the long-term effects are not clear yet.

Passive vaping is not the same as passive smoking. Breathing in someone else's cigarette smoke is harmful. Vapour from vapes is different because they don’t contain tobacco.

The NHS advises that, as a precaution, it’s best not to vape around babies and children if you can avoid it.

Does nicotine cause cancer?

Nicotine makes cigarettes addictive. But nicotine itself doesn’t cause cancer. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has been used safely for many years. You can get NRT on prescription or buy it from pharmacies and shops.

Find out more