Why it’s wrong to say vaping is as bad for you as smoking

According to the World Health organisation, smoking kills some 7 million people every year. It is one of the world’s leading causes of preventable death.

Because smoking causes lung cancer and other awful health conditions, many smokers switch to vaping - using nicotine-based e-cigarettes.

But the World Health organisation is also concerned about vaping. Last year they said 100 million people around the world are now using e-cigarettes, including millions of children, and warned that they were fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction.

But how do the health risks of these two means of getting nicotine into your bloodstream compare?

According to a recent headline in the Daily Mail, they’re basically the same. Here’s the headline:

“Vaping is linked to lung and mouth cancer in major study, as experts warn: 'It is NOT safer than smoking’”

But is vaping really just as bad for you as smoking?

CONTRIBUTOR:

Professor Lion Shahab, Co-Director of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group

CREDITS:

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald

Reporter/producer: Tom Colls

Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

Sound mix: Dave O’Neil

Editor: Richard Vadon