VAPING 101: Lung Damage and Chemicals

You may have seen or heard about kids in your school or town using e⁠-⁠cigarettes. Some teens assume that using e⁠-⁠cigarettes — also known as vaping — is safe. After all, e⁠-⁠cigarettes can come in flavors, so how bad can they really be? The truth is that vaping exposes you to very real — and very scary — health risks. These include exposure to dangerous chemicals, as well as the drug nicotine, which can harm your brain and cause addiction.

E⁠-⁠cigarettes are battery-operated and create an aerosol for a user to inhale. When a person uses an e⁠-⁠cigarette, the liquid inside heats up and becomes the aerosol, which typically contains nicotine, flavorings, and chemicals, some of which are toxic. The e⁠-⁠liquids often come in flavors and the chemicals used to create flavors can be harmful. E⁠-⁠cigarette aerosol can also contain other chemicals like formaldehyde and metal particles such as nickel, lead, chromium, tin, and aluminum. Breathing in e⁠-⁠cigarette aerosol can deliver these chemicals to your lungs where they can cause damage.