Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSecondhand VapingPotential Health EffectsLaws Banning Vaping
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Secondhand Vaping
Potential Health Effects
Laws Banning Vaping
UPDATE:Recent illnesseshave been associated with use of e-cigarettes (vaping). Since the specific causes of these lung injury cases are not yet known, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)recommends refrainingfromallvaping products.
This article explains the toxins found in vaping aerosol, the factors affecting secondhand vaping, and potential health effects.
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Just like people around smokers can breathe in cigarette smoke, it’s possible to breathe in e-cigarette aerosol if you’re around someone vaping. This is called secondhand vaping, and there isn’t a lot of published research yet on how inhaling this aerosol affects the body, especially among adolescents.
About a quarter of middle and high school students surveyed in 2017 said they had been around someone vaping at least once in the past 30 days.In 2021, only about 11 percent of high school students and 3 percent of middle school students surveyed said they had tried e-cigarettes.
Toxins Found in Vaping Aerosol
Vaping doesn’t produce as many harsh chemicals as smoking, but research suggests it still likely contains pollutants.
Someingredients found in vaping aerosolinclude:
While the person vaping will breathe in the full brunt of these toxins, some will be exhaled into the air.
Factors Affecting Secondhand Vaping
The amount and type of toxins released into the air around vapers can depend on a variety of factors, including the brand of vaping fluid, the voltage of the vaping device, the number of people vaping at the same time, and how frequently or intensely they’re vaping.
As a result, there are a lot of differences among the various devices and fluid containers. These variations include:
The makeup of these devices—combined with individual or group vaping patterns—can significantly impact what pollutants get into the air and how many.
However, when they looked at other scenarios, such as bar settings where many people were vaping, the researchers found that the concentration of toxins in the air was generally much higher than in residential settings. The more people were vaping and the higher voltages were used, the worse the air quality. In some scenarios, levels of both formaldehyde and acrolein were above OEHHA safety standards for bar employees.
Other studies suggest that while using e-cigarettes sends pollutants into the air, the concentration of these toxins drops quickly after someone stops vaping (much faster than cigarette smoke), but that doesn’t mean that the risk has gone away. Once out in the air, not all of these toxins will act the same way. Some, for example, will settle on surfaces, such as carpets or furniture, where small children might touch them or inadvertently ingest them when placing contaminated objects in their mouths.
Potential Health Effects of Secondhand Vaping
Secondhand Vaping and Lung Function
Allergies
The U.S. government has taken steps to restrict most flavored vaping products, effective in 2020. While this should reduce the number of flavored cartridges available in the United States, the guidelines are limited to products submitted for market authorization and don’t include those made at home or purchased online from other countries.
Secondhand Vaping as a Gateway
A Lot of Unknowns
Researchers spent decades studying the health consequences of secondhand smoke. It might be a while before we have a clear picture of how secondhand vaping can impact a person’s long-term health, especially for young children.
Laws Banning Vaping in Public Places
Some of these laws offer exceptions. For example, in New York and Vermont, vaping is prohibited in all smoke-free venues (like workplaces, bars, restaurants, and gambling facilities) except e-cigarette stores.
Causes of Sore Throat From Vaping and How to Treat It
Summary
11 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Marynak KL, Trivers KF, King BA.Exposure to secondhand smoke and secondhand e-cigarette aerosol among middle and high school students.Prev Chronic Dis.2019;16:180531. doi:10.5888/pcd16.180531Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.Medical management guidelines for formaldehyde.Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.ToxGuide for alcolein.Allen JG, Flanigan SS, Leblanc M, et al.Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a aample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes.Environ Health Perspect. 2016;124(6):733-9. doi:10.1289/ehp.1510185Williams M, Li J, Talbot P.Effects of model, method of collection, and topography on chemical elements and metals in the aerosol of tank-style electronic cigarettes.Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):13969. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50441-4Logue JM, Sleiman M, Montesinos VN, et al.Emissions from electronic cigarettes: Assessing vapers' intake of toxic compounds, secondhand exposures, and the associated health impacts.Environ Sci Technol. 2017;51(16):9271-9279. doi:0.1021/acs.est.7b00710Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, et al.The public health impact of parent-reported childhood food allergies in the United States.Pediatrics.2018;142(6):e20181235. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-1235U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Enforcement priorities for electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) And other deemed products on the market without premarket authorization: Guidance for industry.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Why youth vape.American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.Electronic smoking devices and secondhand aerosol.Additional ReadingU.S. Department of Health and Human Services.E-cigarette use among youth.
11 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Marynak KL, Trivers KF, King BA.Exposure to secondhand smoke and secondhand e-cigarette aerosol among middle and high school students.Prev Chronic Dis.2019;16:180531. doi:10.5888/pcd16.180531Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.Medical management guidelines for formaldehyde.Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.ToxGuide for alcolein.Allen JG, Flanigan SS, Leblanc M, et al.Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a aample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes.Environ Health Perspect. 2016;124(6):733-9. doi:10.1289/ehp.1510185Williams M, Li J, Talbot P.Effects of model, method of collection, and topography on chemical elements and metals in the aerosol of tank-style electronic cigarettes.Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):13969. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50441-4Logue JM, Sleiman M, Montesinos VN, et al.Emissions from electronic cigarettes: Assessing vapers' intake of toxic compounds, secondhand exposures, and the associated health impacts.Environ Sci Technol. 2017;51(16):9271-9279. doi:0.1021/acs.est.7b00710Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, et al.The public health impact of parent-reported childhood food allergies in the United States.Pediatrics.2018;142(6):e20181235. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-1235U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Enforcement priorities for electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) And other deemed products on the market without premarket authorization: Guidance for industry.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Why youth vape.American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.Electronic smoking devices and secondhand aerosol.Additional ReadingU.S. Department of Health and Human Services.E-cigarette use among youth.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Marynak KL, Trivers KF, King BA.Exposure to secondhand smoke and secondhand e-cigarette aerosol among middle and high school students.Prev Chronic Dis.2019;16:180531. doi:10.5888/pcd16.180531Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.Medical management guidelines for formaldehyde.Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.ToxGuide for alcolein.Allen JG, Flanigan SS, Leblanc M, et al.Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a aample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes.Environ Health Perspect. 2016;124(6):733-9. doi:10.1289/ehp.1510185Williams M, Li J, Talbot P.Effects of model, method of collection, and topography on chemical elements and metals in the aerosol of tank-style electronic cigarettes.Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):13969. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50441-4Logue JM, Sleiman M, Montesinos VN, et al.Emissions from electronic cigarettes: Assessing vapers' intake of toxic compounds, secondhand exposures, and the associated health impacts.Environ Sci Technol. 2017;51(16):9271-9279. doi:0.1021/acs.est.7b00710Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, et al.The public health impact of parent-reported childhood food allergies in the United States.Pediatrics.2018;142(6):e20181235. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-1235U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Enforcement priorities for electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) And other deemed products on the market without premarket authorization: Guidance for industry.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Why youth vape.American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.Electronic smoking devices and secondhand aerosol.
Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Marynak KL, Trivers KF, King BA.Exposure to secondhand smoke and secondhand e-cigarette aerosol among middle and high school students.Prev Chronic Dis.2019;16:180531. doi:10.5888/pcd16.180531
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tobacco product use and associated factors among middle and high school students—National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.Medical management guidelines for formaldehyde.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.ToxGuide for alcolein.
Allen JG, Flanigan SS, Leblanc M, et al.Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a aample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes.Environ Health Perspect. 2016;124(6):733-9. doi:10.1289/ehp.1510185
Williams M, Li J, Talbot P.Effects of model, method of collection, and topography on chemical elements and metals in the aerosol of tank-style electronic cigarettes.Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):13969. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50441-4
Logue JM, Sleiman M, Montesinos VN, et al.Emissions from electronic cigarettes: Assessing vapers' intake of toxic compounds, secondhand exposures, and the associated health impacts.Environ Sci Technol. 2017;51(16):9271-9279. doi:0.1021/acs.est.7b00710
Gupta RS, Warren CM, Smith BM, et al.The public health impact of parent-reported childhood food allergies in the United States.Pediatrics.2018;142(6):e20181235. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-1235
U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Enforcement priorities for electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) And other deemed products on the market without premarket authorization: Guidance for industry.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Why youth vape.
American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.Electronic smoking devices and secondhand aerosol.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.E-cigarette use among youth.
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