Vaping & Health Risks
Vaping & Health Risks
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VAPING & HEALTH RISKS
Almost all vapes contain nicotine.
About 99% of vaping e-liquids sold over the counter contain nicotine, which is highly additive.1
Nicotine’s impact on teens
Nicotine can harm teen brains, which are still developing into their twenties, and impair learning, memory, and attention.3 It can also
- cause mood disorders;
- permanently lower impulse control; and
- increase risk for addiction of future drug use .4
Teens are finding that nicotine addiction only adds more stress to their lives, as they feel a need to vape (also called “Juuling”) at school, at home, and often in secret. Also, those who would like to quit find it hard to do so when the phenomenon is so pervasive among their peers.
Nicotine leads to other unfortunate outcomes: Youth and young adults who vape regularly are more than four times more likely to begin smoking cigarettes within 18 months than those who don’t vape.5
Vapes contain metals and other substances.
When vape e-liquid is heated, it produces an aerosol that is inhaled into the lungs. In addition to nicotine, the aerosol can contain many different substances, including:
- cancer-causing chemicals like formaldehyde
- ultrafine particles
- flavorings that have been linked to lung disease
- heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead6
The truth is, you can’t always know what’s in vape e-liquids, and that’s the scary part. It may be decades before scientists know the long-term effects of inhaling these substances.
Lung injury
In 2019, vaping made headlines when more than 2,000 patients sought medical help for vaping-related lung injuries; 57 died. While medical professionals are still studying this outbreak, the CDC and FDA warn that
- people should not use THC-containing vaping products, particularly from informal sources like friends, family, or in-person or online sellers.
- vitamin E acetate should not be added to vaping products.
- people should not add any other substances not intended by the manufacturer to products, including products purchased through retail establishments.
For the latest updates about the outbreak of lung injury associated with vaping, please visit the CDC website about this topic.
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1. “E-cigarettes: Facts, stats and regulations,” trutinitiative.org, November 2019
2. “How much nicotine is in JUUL?” truthinitiative.org, February 2019
3. Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth, US Office of the Surgeon General, 2018
4. E-cigarettes and Youth: What Parents Need to Know, US CDC
6. E-cigarettes and Youth: What Parents Need to Know, US CDC