Main content

Is vaping safe?

In the UK, doctors say switching from smoking to e-cigarettes will save lives; in the US, there have been deaths linked to vaping, but the evidence is mixed. How risky is it?

After deaths in the US and bans around the world, how risky are e-cigarettes? In some countries, smokeless cigarettes are all the rage. In the UK, doctors say if smokers switch from tobacco to e-cigarettes, it will save lives. But in the US, where the authorities are investigating an outbreak of lung injury linked to vaping, they鈥檙e advising vapers to consider stopping. In India, Mexico and dozens of other countries, vaping is banned altogether. It鈥檚 a confused international picture.

Vaping is still relatively new and scientists are still researching how harmful it may be in the long-term. What we do know is that every year, eight million people die worldwide as a consequence of smoking tobacco. What are the potential health risks associated with vaping? We鈥檒l find out from our expert witnesses, who include a neuroscientist, a pulmonary critical care doctor and a professor of nicotine and tobacco studies.

(A young woman smoking an electronic cigarette at the vape shop. Credit: Getty images)

Available now

24 minutes

Last on

Sat 30 Nov 2019 17:30GMT

Clip

Broadcasts

  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 02:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 03:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 05:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 06:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 13:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 14:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 17:06GMT
  • Thu 24 Oct 2019 19:06GMT
  • Sat 26 Oct 2019 16:06GMT
  • Sun 27 Oct 2019 01:06GMT
  • Mon 28 Oct 2019 00:06GMT
  • Mon 28 Oct 2019 09:06GMT
  • Sat 30 Nov 2019 17:30GMT

Podcast