What are the actual effects of second hand vaping?
Second hand vaping is often compared to second-hand smoking. What it means is basically when someone else, other than the vaper, is involuntarily inhaling the "clouds" the vaper is producing.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding second hand vaping and when compared to second-hand smoking, the two are often treated as the same.
In this post, we will look into the actual effects of second hand vaping.
What is second-hand vapor and is it the same as second-hand smoke?
Second-hand vapor is different from second-hand smoke. Smoke is a product of combustion. When you burn any substance, volatile gases, carbon monoxide and other potentially toxic substances are released into the air. Burning tobacco (which is basically what smoking is) sets free over 7,000 chemicals, hundreds of which are considered toxic and over fifty are carcinogenic. This makes smoking a dangerous habit for the smoker and second-hand smoking an unhealthy side-effect for those around.
In fact, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have even added an online pamphlet to their website specifically outlining the dangers of second-hand smoking.
Second-hand vapor is the result of a different process. It’s technically an aerosol exhaled by a vaper and is not a product of combustion. Thus, you are not inhaling second-hand smoke but rather clouds of steam. The vapor from vaping devices is the result of e-liquid being heated by a vaporizer and no carbon monoxide or tar is released in the process. What you get in second-hand vapor are basically traces of the substances that make up the e-liquid.
So what’s actually in the second-hand vapor?
The most obvious difference between second-hand smoking and second-hand vapor is that with second-hand vapor there is no emission from the device itself — all of the second-hand vapor comes from the lungs and mouth of the one who is vaping. The way it goes is this: the vaper inhales from the device and produces clouds of vapor. When they exhale, there is less of the actual e-liquid substance in the vapor as most of it has been absorbed by their lungs and mouth. In short, even if you inhale a vaper’s cloud on purpose, you will be getting very little of the actual contents of the vape.
But what will you be inhaling?
As the main ingredient in most e-liquids is propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, you will be getting a little bit of that. Plus, if someone is smoking nicotine-containing e-liquids, there will be minimal amounts of nicotine in the air as well. Additionally, you may be getting small amounts of formaldehyde, acetone, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds.
Is vapor harmful?
According to Public Health England and their extensive review of the issue, “there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.”
With that, it doesn’t mean that exposing yourself to second-hand vaping is particularly healthy. While no long-term health risks have been revealed, you may still experience certain symptoms when inhaling second-hand vapor — especially if you are not a vaper or smoker and have allergies.
Some of the possible side-effects may include throat inflammation, coughing, and sneezing, aggravation of allergy symptoms, etc.
Those who suffer from pre-existing lung or breathing conditions are generally at a greater risk to be affected by second-hand vapor. Those who have asthma, for instance or related conditions are not advised to be around vapers and, of course, smokers. The aerosol in vapor can cause throat and respiratory irritation and if you are already having difficulty breathing, inhaling any additional substances, even in minimal quantities, can lead to throat irritation and coughing.
What does it mean for vapers?
While we do have the facts that tell us that second-hand vapor poses no known health risks to healthy people, it is best practice to avoid vaping in crowds and non-ventilated areas.
And glycerin — the two glycols that together make the base of all e-liquids — what vapers exhale into the air doesn’t contain high levels of anything. According to Drexel University toxicology expert Igor Burstyn, while the contents of e-cig vapor inhaled by users “justifies surveillance,” there is so little contamination in the exhaled vapor that there is unlikely to be any risk.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding second hand vaping and when compared to second-hand smoking, the two are often treated as the same.
In this post, we will look into the actual effects of second hand vaping.
What is second-hand vapor and is it the same as second-hand smoke?
Second-hand vapor is different from second-hand smoke. Smoke is a product of combustion. When you burn any substance, volatile gases, carbon monoxide and other potentially toxic substances are released into the air. Burning tobacco (which is basically what smoking is) sets free over 7,000 chemicals, hundreds of which are considered toxic and over fifty are carcinogenic. This makes smoking a dangerous habit for the smoker and second-hand smoking an unhealthy side-effect for those around.
In fact, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have even added an online pamphlet to their website specifically outlining the dangers of second-hand smoking.
Second-hand vapor is the result of a different process. It’s technically an aerosol exhaled by a vaper and is not a product of combustion. Thus, you are not inhaling second-hand smoke but rather clouds of steam. The vapor from vaping devices is the result of e-liquid being heated by a vaporizer and no carbon monoxide or tar is released in the process. What you get in second-hand vapor are basically traces of the substances that make up the e-liquid.
So what’s actually in the second-hand vapor?
The most obvious difference between second-hand smoking and second-hand vapor is that with second-hand vapor there is no emission from the device itself — all of the second-hand vapor comes from the lungs and mouth of the one who is vaping. The way it goes is this: the vaper inhales from the device and produces clouds of vapor. When they exhale, there is less of the actual e-liquid substance in the vapor as most of it has been absorbed by their lungs and mouth. In short, even if you inhale a vaper’s cloud on purpose, you will be getting very little of the actual contents of the vape.
But what will you be inhaling?
As the main ingredient in most e-liquids is propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, you will be getting a little bit of that. Plus, if someone is smoking nicotine-containing e-liquids, there will be minimal amounts of nicotine in the air as well. Additionally, you may be getting small amounts of formaldehyde, acetone, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds.
Is vapor harmful?
According to Public Health England and their extensive review of the issue, “there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to bystanders.”
With that, it doesn’t mean that exposing yourself to second-hand vaping is particularly healthy. While no long-term health risks have been revealed, you may still experience certain symptoms when inhaling second-hand vapor — especially if you are not a vaper or smoker and have allergies.
Some of the possible side-effects may include throat inflammation, coughing, and sneezing, aggravation of allergy symptoms, etc.
Those who suffer from pre-existing lung or breathing conditions are generally at a greater risk to be affected by second-hand vapor. Those who have asthma, for instance or related conditions are not advised to be around vapers and, of course, smokers. The aerosol in vapor can cause throat and respiratory irritation and if you are already having difficulty breathing, inhaling any additional substances, even in minimal quantities, can lead to throat irritation and coughing.
What does it mean for vapers?
While we do have the facts that tell us that second-hand vapor poses no known health risks to healthy people, it is best practice to avoid vaping in crowds and non-ventilated areas.
And glycerin — the two glycols that together make the base of all e-liquids — what vapers exhale into the air doesn’t contain high levels of anything. According to Drexel University toxicology expert Igor Burstyn, while the contents of e-cig vapor inhaled by users “justifies surveillance,” there is so little contamination in the exhaled vapor that there is unlikely to be any risk.
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