With Halloween coming up, there's a lot of dangerous creatures lurking around, but is vaping one of them? Surely one big question you want to know when you're thinking of vaping is "Is vaping really safe?".
Vaping - Healthier than Smoking
The majority of vapers in the world are former smokers, picking vaping as the healthier way to get nicotine. Smoking is known to cause around 480 thousand deaths every year, the biggest preventable cause of death, while vaping has hardly killed anyone at all. This is because of the tar contained in cigarettes, which can cause blood clots, breathing problems and cancer.
E-Cigarettes does not contain tar, or the other harmful carcinogens, making it the healthier option.
Nicotine
If you are a former smoker, you most likely vape for a healthier way to get nicotine, but is nicotine still harmful?
It is falsely believed that nicotine can cause cancer or heart disease. Nicotine is not the part of cigarettes that causes cancer (as seen above, it is the tar that causes this). It has been believed for years that nicotine is the dangerous part of smoking, meaning vaping wasn't used as it was believed to still be dangerous.
While it doesn't cause these diseases, nicotine is still addictive.The degree of addiction depends on how people ingest the nicotine. Smoking gives the user a faster hit, increasing the addiction, while vaping gives you a slower hit.
If you overdo it with the nicotine, you can feel lightheaded, dizzy and even jittery.
Allergies
Like food allergies, you can also get vaping allergies. The only known allergy at the moment is an allergy to PG. This is more serious than a food allergy as, if you have a food allergy, you just don't eat the food, but if you have a vaping allergy, you can't just stop vaping (if you need the nicotine). You can, however, get pure VG e-liquids, so you don't have an allergic reaction.
Battery Hazards
Like smoking, vaping can still cause fire hazards. Most e-cigarettes use lithium batteries. If these batteries are used incorrectly, they can lead to accidents. Many major injuries have been caused by battery explosions and fires, with a couple of people even dying from this, though most e-cigarettes are built so battery insertion is easier to do, leading to battery issues being avoided.
Other Notes
There is currently no known long term side effects of vaping. Many people believe vaping can cause cancer, but no carcinogens have been found as of yet, meaning vaping is still the safer option.
The nicotine in e-liquids can be very dangerous if ingested by an infant. Only a tablespoon worth of ingestion can cause nausea, strokes and can even put a child in a coma. We blogged about how to keep your battery safe whilst vaping.
Conclusion
Vaping is definitely a better substitute to smoking, with experts estimating vaping as 95% healthier than traditional smoking. If you are a non-smoker however, it is probably best to have a low amount, perhaps 0mg, of nicotine in your e-liquid, meaning you won't get addicted and become dependant on it.