Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), are commonly called vapes. They use a battery to heat a liquid which produces a vapour that users inhale.
The liquid in vapes contains a range of chemicals and flavourings. Most vapes also contain nicotine, which is highly addictive.
What's in a vape?
Vapes come in many shapes and sizes, and often look like everyday items like highlighters, pens, or USB memory sticks.
They all work in similar ways. Breathing through the mouthpiece activates a battery-powered heating element or coil. The liquid sits in a tank or is soaked into an absorbent pad. When it heats, the liquid turns into tiny, airborne droplets or aerosols – this is what is breathed in and out. Vape aerosol is not water vapour.
The main ingredients in vape liquids are propylene glycol and glycerol. Different chemical flavourings are added, depending on the vape flavour. Most of these chemicals and compounds are considered safe to eat, but this doesn’t mean they’re safe to be inhaled into your lungs.
Vaping products are often labelled incorrectly; not all ingredients are always listed. Most vapes contain nicotine, even when it’s not shown on the packaging.
Along with nicotine and chemical flavourings, vapes can contain other ingredients that may cause harm, including:
- Ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs
- Volatile organic compounds
- Heavy metals, such as nickel, tin and lead.
Chemicals in vapes
Many people think that when you vape, you’re inhaling water vapour.
This isn’t true.
The vapour you inhale contains hundreds of chemicals, as well as heavy metals, volatile organic compounds and cancer-causing chemicals.
Here are a few of the chemicals that we know are in vapes:
- Formaldehyde – used in disinfectant and known to cause cancer
- Chlorine – found in disinfectant and known to cause lung damage
- Benzene – used in bug spray and known to damage DNA
- Mercury – found in batteries and known to damage fertility
- Acrolein – used in weed killer and known to be toxic to the heart and lungs
- Arsenic – used in poisons and known to damage internal organs.
Read more about the scientific research on the content of vapes.