Vaping versus Smoking: Is There a Difference between The Two?

Vaping has become a popular option for many smokers. Is using a vaporizer a better and safer alternative for smokers? Continue reading to find out the difference between vaping and smoking cigarettes and be the judge.

1. Health- Having a lot of toxic chemicals, smoking can cause respiratory diseases such as lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In fact, it affects every organ in your body. In addition, there are claims that smokers can lose 15 years of their life. On the other hand, the vaporizer came in the market in 2003. Therefore, its long term effects are still not conclusive, but many people claim that it reduces the health risks associated with smoking. What is known is that no carcinogens or tar are found in vaporizers so far. Despite that, a health issue raised in a study in 2015 shows that people who vape at extremely high temperatures can produce formaldehyde which is a carcinogen.
2. Chemical makeup- A cigarette has 599 additives. When you light it up, 4000 chemicals are produced. Some of these noxious chemicals are ammonia that is found in household cleaners and arsenic that is found in rat poison. In addition, at least 70 of them can cause cancer. A vaporizer has around 4 ingredients found in its liquid. These are propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine (if needed), and flavoring. At times, distilled water is also added.
3. Safety- On top of the health risks, safety is another concern. A cigarette not disposed properly can most likely start smoking-material fires. Nevertheless, some tobacco companies implemented fire-safe requirements to reduce this kind of accident. Exploding batteries is a safety issue for vaporizers. Compared with smoking, it causes less damage. However, due to its more recent introduction, there might be more complications in the future.
4. Smell- You can distinguish right away if someone just smoked or if a room was used for smoking. The scent from cigarette smoke tends to stay longer. Even after brushing and spraying on perfume, a person cannot easily remove the smell. In case of vaping, the smell vanishes after a few minutes. Because vaporizers have flavors, some create odors that are not irritable to one’s nose.
5. Nicotine Content- Nicotine is an addictive substance which results in dependence for most people. For its content in cigarettes and vaporizers, it is indefinite because several factors should be considered such as the strength of the nicotine and the body’s absorption of this chemical. Although most vaporizers contain nicotine, the bloodstream takes up lesser quantity of this substance, so the most damage it can cause is dependence.

Neither smoking nor vaping is absolutely safe. If there is much difficulty quitting cold turkey, use a vaporizer instead. Many experts have advised on this. However, stopping this vice is the best way since both can be harmful not only to yourself but also to the people around you.