The Harms of Smoking versus Vaping

Dr Pippa Leighton

24th August 2022

Drivers often ask us during their D4 medical at OccHealthNet about the harms of vaping (or e-cigarettes). Often this is whilst trying to give up smoking. There is a lot of confusing information online which doesn’t help.

Smoking is established from many studies of thousands of people to be very bad for your health. It’s the number one risk for most cancers, heart attacks and strokes. Passive smoking is very bad for children’s health. So moving to a vape sounds sensible. But is it?

We know from studying vape vs tobacco smoke that vapes contain fewer toxic chemicals. They still contain nicotine and other chemicals which are bad for health, but in much lower amounts than cigarettes. Nicotine is why vapes can be useful to help people stop smoking, and there is good evidence to show they work. They provide similar levels of nicotine to patches. A UK clinical trial published in 2019 found that people who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking were twice as likely to succeed as people who used nicotine patches or gum alone.

Lots of HGV drivers and taxi drivers mention to us that other chest problems can occur with vapes. There was an outbreak of chest infections in the USA linked to vapes a few years ago which was found to be linked to an illegal chemical which is banned in the UK. No similar outbreaks have been identified in the UK.

There’s still a lot we need to find out- vapes have only been around for a few years. There’s limited research into different types of devices, nicotine concentrations and flavours. But lots of research has taken place to show they are safer than cigarettes and much more is ongoing.

Overall, we know that vapes are safer than cigarettes, ideally as a short-term measure only.

Any HGV, PSV, bus or taxi driver who attends OccHealthNet for their driver medical licence assessments will be asked about smoking. And doctors are required to advise clients on reducing harms to their health. So don’t be surprised if this conversation comes up at your next appointment!