MYTH :
E-cigarettes don ’ t help smokers quit .
FACT :
A variety of studies conclude that vapour products help people quit smoking .
MYTH :
E-cigarette batteries often explode
FACT :
E-cigarettes use lithium-ion batteries , the same battery chemistry used in many cell phones , laptops , and other consumer electronics .
Most notable is a randomised controlled clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2019 which found that nicotine-containing vapour products were nearly twice as effective as traditional nicotine replacement therapies ( like gums and patches ) to help people quit smoking .
While battery explosions and fires can happen with any of these products ( usually due to improper use or a manufacturing defect ) it is generally rare .
MYTH :
E-cigarettes are a trojan horse by tobacco companies .
FACT :
While most major tobacco companies now have their own branded e-cigarettes , these products were not created by tobacco companies to “ hook future generations ,” as many activists claim .
Vapour products were invented by people who smoke , for themselves , because they were frustrated with the low success rates of traditional nicotine replacement products .
MYTH :
Vaping was responsible for the EVALI deaths
FACT :
The ‘ EVALI ’ lung injuries and deaths identified in December 2019 were caused by exposure to THC-containing vapour products , which also contained vitamin E acetate .
The lung injuries were not caused by nicotine-containing e-cigarettes . Conflating THC vapor products with nicotine vapor products in the case of EVALI is comparable to blaming all leafygreen vegetables for an outbreak of e-coli , when it ’ s really just a bad batch of spinach .
MYTH :
Vaping exposes users to more formaldehyde than cigarettes
FACT :
This claim comes from a single defective study published in 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine in which researchers improperly used e-cigarette devices by overheating them , and effectively “ burning ” the wicking material , instead of aerosolizing the liquid .
This phenomenon , known as ‘ dry hits ,’ is the only way to achieve such high levels of formaldehyde but because of how harsh and intolerable the resulting vapor is , the user immediately stops vaping if this happens .
MYTH :
Youth vaping is a gateway to smoking
FACT :
This claim comes from data showing that youth who experiment with cigarette smoking are likely to experiment with vaping , and vice versa .
There is currently no data to support a causal link between the two , let alone a “ gateway ” effect . In fact , according to the latest research , the most likely causal link between vaping and smoking is that vaping is diverting young people from experimenting with smoking .
MYTH :
Youth vaping is an epidemic
MYTH :
Flavoured vapour products are designed to attract kids
FACT :
Flavoured vape products , including fruit , candy and dessert flavours , were designed by and for adults . Surveys of adult vapers clearly show a strong preference for fruity , dessert and sweet / candy flavours over all other flavour categories .
FACT :
Youth experimentation with vaping increased in 2018 and 2019 , but actually decreased in 2020 . Additionally , the data most often reported only covers experimentation ( trying vaping – even one puff – in the last 30 days ), not regular or habitual use . Daily use of vapour products by adolescents remains relatively low , under five percent as of 2020 .
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