By now, you’re probably familiar with nicotine vaping products (NVPs), or vapes, and how their illegal versions are popping up all over the place.
You might have also heard that they’re often seen as a healthier option compared to cigarettes.
It’s true that vapes don’t produce smoke like traditional cigarettes do, which is a big plus since cigarette smoke is loaded with harmful chemicals like aldehydes, cadmium, and arsenic.
But keep in mind, it doesn’t mean they’re completely safe. Being around secondhand vaping can still be bad for your health.
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The Difference Between Smoke and Vapour
Smoke is what you get from burning something.
The chemicals in smoke can vary depending on what’s being burnt.
But, when it comes to cigarette smoke, it’s loaded with nasty stuff like formaldehyde, ammonia, acetone, and other carcinogens that can lead to cancer.
When you inhale this smoke, you open yourself up to a range of serious health issues, including various cancers that affect the lungs, stomach, skin, and more.
And it’s not just you at risk—if your friends or family breathe in that secondhand smoke, they’re in the same boat.
That’s why, for everyone’s sake, it’s best to stick to designated smoking areas, ideally outdoors.
Now, let’s talk about vapour.
Unlike smoke, vapour is made by heating a liquid instead of burning it. When you heat a liquid, it evaporates or boils and turns into vapour.
You might be wondering if inhaling aerosolised vapour is dangerous, so let’s dive into that next.
More About Vapes: What’s in the E-Liquid?
E-liquids are another name for NVPs, and you might be familiar with them already. These liquids are made up of propylene glycol, glycerol, flavours, and nicotine.
When you use a device, it heats up the e-liquid, turning it into vapour that you can inhale.
Ideally, e-liquids shouldn’t pose any harm if they’re made correctly. This means they should be specially formulated and produced in clean, sanitised facilities, meeting pharmaceutical standards.
However, you need to be cautious about products that aren’t manufactured properly, as they could make secondhand vapour more dangerous than you think.
How Harmful is Secondhand Vape?
People often think, “no smoke means no danger,” when it comes to NVPs, but the truth is that the quality of their manufacturing really matters for secondhand vapour safety.
Not all vapes are created equal—some are just out to make a profit and keep you hooked, while others, the better ones, are available in pharmacies as part of smoking cessation plans.
Illegal NVPs
You’ve probably spotted those brightly packaged NVPs in corner shops and local tobacconists.
They grab your attention with their trendy designs and enticing flavours, aiming to attract teenagers but even kids as young as five.
But here’s the problem: these products are made for as little as $1 and sold with a staggering 3,500% markup.
They’re made purely for profit and often without adhering to proper safety practices.
Some can contain up to 357mg of nicotine, along with foreign saliva, nickel, lead, and other harmful substances.
Remember, these products were never intended for smoking cessation, so their secondhand vapour can pose real health risks.
Pharmacy NVPs
Pharmacy NVPs only use the highest manufacturing standards and quality in their products made solely for smoking cessation. Their similarity with illegal NVPs ends in the way they look and are operated – everything else is a very different story.
NVPs you can purchase from pharmacies have cartridges with specially-formulated and tested nicotine-containing liquid. Every ingredient and compound contained in these products is identified (or characterized), including the compounds produced once the device aerosolises the liquid, to ensure they’re suitable for you to use during your smoking cessation journey.
Furthermore, medical NVP companies that supply pharmacies are situated inside the country and adhere to GMP and ISO standards. These products are also locally insured, just like all other medicines, giving you a peace of mind that you cannot get with illegal products.
Going back to our earlier question, the harm level of secondhand vape for both types of NVPs is likely negligible. However, this doesn’t mean you can use the device anywhere in front of non-smokers or non-vapers.
To minimise the possible harms secondhand vapour can cause to anyone else (and surely the most polite thing to do) is to head to a designated smoking area to use your NVP.
How Long Does Vape Stay in the Air?
In general, vapour and smoke can stay in the air far longer in spaces with poor ventilation compared to ones that are effectively aerated. On average, vapour can stay between a few minutes to an hour, depending on where you’re using it.
For instance, vaping inside a closed car, which has less ventilation than a room full of open doorways and windows, will cause vapour to stay around longer. There’s also a chance that any e-liquid ingredients may land on dashboards, seats, and other surfaces.
On the other hand, vaping in a designated smoking and vaping area dissipates within seconds.
This means that if you’re going to use NVPs, stay near windows and doors or do it outside enclosed spaces for everyone’s safety.
Does Vaping in the House Affect Others?
Smoking in the house definitely affects other people who live with you. Almost every room in the house can trap vapour for an hour or sometimes more, especially if it lacks proper ventilation.
Again, while vapour from NVPs is far less dangerous than cigarettes, it can cause residue to rest on surfaces. Moreover, it isn’t comfortable (nor polite) for any non-smoker or vaper (especially children) to walk inside a vapour-filled room that just exited your respiratory system.
Preventative Steps for Passive Vaping
The guidelines for passive vaping in any space is similar to smoking. Here are some of them:
- Only smoke in designated smoking areas, especially in public spots where there are many people.
- When you use your vape, be sure to be right next to a window or door, and keep any door linked to any other room that heads indoors closed.
- Open your windows when using NVPs inside your vehicle.
- Don’t use NVPs when you’re riding with non-smoking or vaping passengers. Also don’t use your NVPs while in public transportation (as you can be fined or worse).
- Never use your NVPs around older adults or in hospitals
How to Use NVPs Safely
If you’re a motivated smoker looking to use the most responsible NVP options available, here’s a short guide to help you get started.
Go Through First-Line Solutions First
Some motivated smokers can handle cold turkey just fine and see success within a few tries, but oftentimes, smokers have strong withdrawals that can draw them back to lighting a stick.
That’s where nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products come in. These are readily available and stocked at your local pharmacy.
NRT products are the most trusted quitting option available for motivated smokers. They might not imitate cigarettes, but they contain a small dose of nicotine that may be enough to alleviate your withdrawals. These come in the form of patches and gums for easy and convenient nicotine delivery.
While NRTs can be effective, they don’t work for everyone. If these haven’t done the trick for you, you may now be eligible for a nicotine prescription to use nicotine vaping products (NVPs).
Chat to a GP
As mentioned, NRT products have worked for many successful ex-smokers. But, you might have ingrained behaviours and triggers that only something that mimics a cigarette can successfully address, such as the hand-to-mouth motion, and needing something to use while having a drink with friends.
That is where NVPs become very handy in helping you fight the urge to consume tobacco.
You need a nicotine prescription before you can purchase NVPs, so you’ll need to consult with a GP to help you on your smoking cessation journey.
And, if your GP deems it necessary, they can write you a nicotine prescription for NVPs.
You can chat to your usual GP more about this.
Visit Your Local Pharmacy
Once you have your nicotine prescription, you can pop down to your local pharmacy. Over 2,200 pharmacies across Australia hold these products in-store, but any pharmacy can order these in for you if they don’t currently stock them.
Both your pharmacist and GP can advise you on how best to use the product, such as the initial setup, and the number of puffs to take when you feel withdrawals.
Summary
When it comes to the safety of secondhand vape, prevention is always the best path to take. Studies may have yet to prove the safety of secondhand vapour inhalation, but it doesn’t mean you can use it just around non-smokers and vapers and especially indoors and around young children and older adults.
The only person to benefit from your pharmacy NVP is you during your smoking cessation journey. If you’d like to get started on using it to stop smoking, we can help.
Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around!
If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to friendly Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including via the use of prescribed nicotine vaping products, if eligible.
Link Reference:
- https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/aussie-kindergarteners-caught-in-vaping-trend-principal-claims/news-story/ee3b6b89457c9e6e089b535abe89170b
- https://www.bbc.com/news/health-65614078
- https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/08/paddy-gower-on-vaping-shocking-facts-uncovered-about-the-known-and-unknown-health-risks-of-e-liquids.html
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zb37/we-got-your-vapes-tested-in-a-lab-heres-what-we-found
- https://www.apvma.gov.au/regulation/manufacturing/good-manufacturing-practice
- https://www.iso.org/iso-13485-medical-devices.html