E-cigarettes and vaping products

Because vaping systems don’t burn tobacco and don't even contain tobacco, DVS and CVS emit on average 99% lower levels of harmful chemicals (except nicotine) compared with cigarettes, making it for adult smokers who don’t quit a better alternative than continued smoking. This does not necessarily equal a 99% reduction in risk. DVS and CVS are not risk free and provide nicotine, which is addictive.

How are e-vapor products different from cigarettes? 

E-vapor products are very different from cigarettes which burn the tobacco. Through the combustion of tobacco, cigarettes produce smoke, a complex, chemical mixture, with billions of carbon-based solid particles and more than 6,000 constituents identified. Within this complex mixture, about 100 chemicals have been associated with smoking-related disease by public health authorities. These constituents are also known as harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs).  

E-vapor products do not generate smoke but an aerosol which can contain lower levels of harmful chemicals than found in cigarette smoke, although this needs to be substantiated for each product. The aerosol generated by e-vapor products is sometimes wrongly referred to as smoke. While smoke is an aerosol, not all aerosols are smoke, and the aerosol released by an e-vapor product is not smoke.  

Are e-vapor products better than continued smoking? 

While not being risk free, e-vapor products have the potential to be less harmful alternatives for adult smokers who won’t quit. When tobacco burns, high levels of harmful chemicals are released into the smoke, and carbon-based solid particles are generated that are inhaled. Because e-vapor products don’t involve combustion, they likely produce significantly lower levels of those harmful chemicals, a point which should be assessed on a per-product basis.

Are e-vapor products safe?

No. E-vapor products are not risk free and generally provide nicotine, which is addictive. However, unlike smoking, there is no burning of tobacco and therefore no smoke to inhale, making the use of vaping products, whose risk profile is scientifically substantiated, to be lower than cigarettes for adult smokers who don’t quit.   

In fact, e-vapor products can generate up to 99% fewer harmful chemicals (excluding nicotine) than cigarettes, although this does not equate to a 99% reduction in risk.

Harm reduction and e-vapor products

The best way for smokers to reduce their risks associated with smoking is to quit tobacco and nicotine altogether. However, around 1 billion people will continue to smoke for the foreseeable future. An increasing consensus suggests that adult smokers who switch entirely to tobacco or nicotine-containing products that do not involve burning tobacco may face lower risks of harm compared with continuing traditional smoking. Therefore, the more adult smokers choose smoke-free alternatives instead of continuing to smoke, the bigger the impact on reducing population harm. This is known as the tobacco harm reduction approach.  

Ensuring that smoke-free alternatives satisfy current adult smokers so that they completely switch is crucial. Flavor is one of the key factors influencing user satisfaction.