How harmful are vapes really? The carcinogen is tar, not nicotine

How harmful are vapes, really?

First, it helps to understand several harmful substances: nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide.

Their effects are: addiction, blackening your lungs, and increasing the risk of cancer.

Vapes contain no tar and no carbon monoxide—only nicotine.

A cigarette contains about 1.5–3 mg of nicotine. Through heating and combustion... roughly 20% is absorbed.

If a person smokes one pack of cigarettes a month, they will take in 80 mg of nicotine per month. 6 mg e-liquid is rarely sold. 80% of people vape 3 mg, and the data in the image only reflects the diluted amount.

Vapes also heat up and release vapor into the air, so absorption is also about 20%. That means one bottle of e-liquid lasting a month equals about 36 mg.

In short, vaping is still not good for your health, but if the harm from traditional tobacco is 100, then the harm from vaping is 80. The best thing for smokers is still to quit, but why not try relatively lower-harm vaping devices.