Health Studies, Vaping Saftey, Vaping Studies, Vaping vs. Smoking
10 Scientific Vaping Studies to Refute Skeptics
Jun
It seems like every time you turn around the media is spreading false information about vaping in attempts to scare away the public. Public officials, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, and the FDA are stopping at nothing to create new lies every day.
All these lies and exaggerations about vaping are all supposedly based on research by trusted scientists and academics. The next time a friend or co-worker annoyingly brings up one of these fabricated stories in an attempt to “set you straight” about vaping, show them this article!
Most of these false stories are based on poorly executed studies that have little to do with actual facts. What our community needs are solid facts to be able to properly refute the arguments of the skeptics. More importantly, we need to have the scientific facts ready to present to smokers who may have questions about switching to vaping.
We’ve got your back! The following are some of the most common myths found in false news articles on vaping, and a follow-up study to address each one. At the end of this article is a group of literature reviews that answer a variety of questions, and make perfect links to include in your advocacy letters and emails to legislators and local council members.
10 Mind-Changing Studies to Use on Skeptics
1- Secondhand vapor is NOT toxic
Igor Burstyn, a toxicology expert at Drexel University, concluded that there is no risk to bystanders exposed to secondhand vapor. (This study was crowd-funded by vapers through CASAA).
“Exposures of bystanders are likely to be orders of magnitude less, and thus pose no apparent concern,” wrote Burstyn.
2- Vaping improves the lung function of smokers
Several studies have been done proving that there are no harmful effects on the lungs from vaping. In fact, a study by Dr. Polosa shows improved lung function in asthmatic smokers who either switched to vaping or used vaping to cut down on smoking.
“The e-cig may help smokers with asthma to reduce their cigarette consumption or remain abstinent and hence reduce the burden of smoking-related asthma symptoms,” wrote Polosa. “The positive findings observed with e-cigs allows us to advance the hypothesis that these products may be valuable for smoking cessation and/or tobacco harm reduction also in asthma patients who smoke.”
Effect of Smoking Abstinence and Reduction in Asthmatic Smokers Switching to Electronic Cigarettes: Evidence for Harm Reversal – Riccardo Polosa, et al
3- Nicotine itself is NOT majorly addictive
There are a lot of studies that question the addictiveness of nicotine. It has been found that the 7000 chemicals contained in cigarettes are the main culprit resulting in cigarette addiction. In fact, it has been proven that nicotine is just as harmful as having a cup of coffee, as its effects on the body are very similar. French expert Dr. Etter concluded that vaping is far less addictive than smoking, as is more closely related to nicotine replacement therapy products.
“Some e-cigarette users were dependent on nicotine-containing e-cigarettes, but these products were less addictive than tobacco cigarettes,” Etter and Eissenberg said. “E-cigarettes may be as or less addictive than nicotine gums, which themselves are not very addictive.”
Dependence levels in users of electronic cigarettes, nicotine gums and tobacco cigarettes – Jean-Francois Etter and Thomas Eissenberg
4- E-Liquid is NOT full of formaldehyde
If you have kept up with all the latest lies in the media about vaping then you’ve probably heard of the “formaldehyde letter” found in the New England Journal of Medicine. In it, researchers from Portland State University (PSU) discovered that overheating some primitive top-coil clearomizers called CE4’s resulted in what they claimed were dangerous emissions of formaldehyde. The problem with this study is only the PSU smoking machines would be able to tolerate the horrible, burning flavor that would result, humans wouldn’t.
The study from this letter has been debunked by several subsequent studies- most notably in a 2017 paper by Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos. In it he documents his replication of the PSU study. He describes in great detail how the other researchers used smoking machines to produce what vapers call “dry hits” which no vaper would be able to inhale nor tolerate.
“In fact, such testing of e-cigarettes is not very different from overcooking food to the point of becoming an inedible piece of charcoal and then assuming that consumers would consume it and be exposed to the resulting carcinogenic compounds in their daily routine,” writes Dr. Farsalinos. “Accepting that e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking, such an omission could result in unintendedly misleading smokers into thinking that there is little to be gained by switching to e-cigarettes.”
E-cigarettes emit very high formaldehyde levels only in conditions that are aversive to users: A replication study under verified realistic use conditions – Konstantinos E. Farsalinos, Vassilis Voudris, Alketa Spyrou, Konstantinos Poulas
5- Flavored e-liquids weren’t created to target kids
With the latest news blowing up about the recent flavor bans, every vaper has surely heard of the claims that flavored/menthol e-juices are meant to encourage kids to start vaping. However, we as adult vapers know that the plentiful flavor choices in vaping make it easier to part from the burning tobacco experience.
“Among vapor store customers in the United States who use electronic nicotine delivery devices to stop smoking, vaping longer, using newer-generation devices and using non-tobacco and non-menthol flavored e-liquid appear to be associated with higher rates of smoking cessation,” wrote the authors.
Biochemically verified smoking cessation and vaping beliefs among vape store customers – Alayna Tackett, et al
6- Vaping is significantly lower in toxins than smoking
Every week there’s a study claiming to show something bad in vapor. However, many studies- including this one by Dr. Maciej Goniewicz and others- have proven that the toxicant levels produced in vaping are far, far lower than those found in traditional smoke.
“After switching from tobacco to e-cigarettes, nicotine exposure remains unchanged, while exposure to selected carcinogens and toxicants is substantially reduced,” the authors wrote.
Exposure to Nicotine and Selected Toxicants in Cigarette Smokers Who Switched to Electronic Cigarettes: A Longitudinal Within-Subjects Observational Study – Maciej Goniewicz, et al
7- Vaping helps people to quit smoking
At least three studies have been done in 2017 that reinforce vaping as a practical way to cut back or quit smoking cigarettes. Research from the University of California-San Diego (the heart of the anti-vaping tobacco control world) used U.S. Census data to help prove that vaping helps more smokers to quit and stay quit.
“Use of e-cigarettes was associated both with a higher quit rate for individuals as well as at the population level; driving an increase in the overall number of people quitting,” said lead author Shu-Hong Zhu.
E-cigarette use and associated changes in population smoking cessation: evidence from US current population surveys – Shu-Hong Zhu, Yue-Lin Zhuang, Shiushing Wong, Sharon E Cummins, Gary J Tedeschi
8- Vaping isn’t a gateway to cigarette smoking
One of the most harmful claims about vaping is that it’s a gateway to more harmful behaviors. However, every study that claims vaping to be a gateway contains a faulty methodology or a minuscule sample size, as Clive Bates explains in his blog about gateway claims.
These greatly respected tobacco researchers have found no evidence showing vaping to be a gateway. In fact, they are imploring their colleagues to consider using vaping as a preventative to smoking.
“While research exists to support either side of the argument, we conclude, currently, that youth use of e-cigarettes is unlikely to increase the ranks of future cigarette smokers,” said Kozlowski and Warner. “Is it possible we could have our cake and eat it too? Perhaps, especially if sensible comprehensive harm reduction policies can earn a place in modern tobacco control efforts.”
Adolescents and e-cigarettes: Objects of concern may appear larger than they are – Lynn Kozlowski and Kenneth Warner
9- Vaping is NOT just as bad, or worse, for you than smoking
According to this study by an affluent group of British and American researchers, smokers who make the switch to vaping drastically reduce health risks and symptoms caused by smoking.
“Long-term NRT-only and e-cigarette-only use, but not the dual use of NRTs or e-cigarettes with combustible cigarettes, is associated with substantially reduced levels of measured carcinogens and toxins relative to smoking only combustible cigarettes,” they wrote.
Nicotine, Carcinogen, and Toxin Exposure in Long-Term E-Cigarette and Nicotine Replacement Therapy Users: A Cross-sectional Study – Lion Shahab, PhD; Maciej L. Goniewicz, PhD; Benjamin C. Blount, PhD; Jamie Brown, PhD; Ann McNeill, PhD; K. Udeni Alwis, PhD; June Feng, PhD; Lanqing Wang, PhD; Robert West, PhD
10- Vaping has a very low risk of causing cancer
This study, conducted by Dr. William Stephens from the University of St. Andrews (UK), measured cancer potencies in vapor, heat-not-burn, and tobacco products using the published chemical analyses of emissions. Then, he created a method to express the measurements of vapor and smoke in common units. This allowed for a better comparison of risk.
He found that the cancer risk for vapers using devices at normal wattage settings was almost as low as the risk of using nicotine replacement therapy products — less than one percent the risk of smoking.
“Numerous anti-tobacco groups and health departments have repeatedly asserted that vaping is no less hazardous than smoking, but this claim is false,” wrote Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University about this study, “and the present study adds significantly to the already substantial evidence that vaping is orders of magnitude safer than smoking.”
Comparing the cancer potencies of emissions from vapourised nicotine products including e-cigarettes with those of tobacco smoke – William E Stephens
Planning to meet with or write a legislator/doctor? Use these links as a reference!
When it comes to convincing decision-makers, you’ll want some broad-based but convincing documentation of vaping’s benefits. Literature reviews are scientific papers that look at a variety of sources to build a consensus view about e-cigarettes and vaping. These are all very good ones:
Public Health England
E-cigarettes: an evidence update
The Royal College of Physicians
Nicotine without smoke: Tobacco harm reduction
Cochrane Review Tobacco Addiction Group
Can electronic cigarettes help people stop smoking, and are they safe to use for this purpose?
National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training
Electronic cigarettes: A briefing for stop smoking services
Clive Bates, Eli Lehrer, and David Sweanor
Spread the truth, and create supporters
Use these resources for education. Most people simply don’t know much (or anything) about vaping! All they know is what they see in the popular press, and on television and social media. It’s not their fault. We can’t expect everyone to be an expert in everything. But we need to gain their support.
It’s up to vapers to start changing public perceptions of vaping. Can we ever debate the science as well as scientists like Michael Siegel, or argue harm reduction benefits as well as experienced advocates like Clive Bates? No, but we can show people that science is often on our side in arguments about vaping just by keeping some useful studies handy and learning a bit about the science ourselves.
Remember that the most important point: even though vaping may have some risks, the benefits of quitting smoking are so large they dwarf the potential for harm from vaping. No matter what remote dangers appear in small-scale studies with limited samples, vaping is far safer than smoking. And when people understand that, they can become allies.
