Is Secondhand Vapor Dangerous? Not According to These Scientists…

The evidence that secondhand (or passive) vaping is putting non-vapers at risk is minuscule.

I won’t say it’s nonexistent, because it’s not.

There are scientific studies there that support the thesis that the Earth is flat. You can bet your bottom dollar there are also studies to support the claim that secondhand vape exposure is harmful, too.

 BUT… and this is a heavy-ass but, believe me. IT PACKS A PUNCH!

Is the risk of adverse health effects from using e-cigarettes so great that we can equate secondhand vapor to secondhand smoke?

Not really.

And I’ll prove it if you keep reading.

If you’re in a rush, just remember this:

3 Truths About Vape Exhale

#1 Exhaled vape aerosol doesn’t contain much of anything – aside from propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin particles, exhaled vapor has almost no traces of heavy metals, nicotine, harmful chemicals, or fine particles of any sort. According to toxicologist Igor Burstyn, there’s just so little contamination in the exhale that it can hardly put innocent bystanders at risk.

#2 ‘Third-hand vaping’ is not a thing like ‘thirdhand smoking’ is – thirdhand smoking is what we use to describe the nicotine deposited at surfaces that can be absorbed through the skin. According to research conducted by California San Francisco University, 93.8% of vaped nicotine stays with the user… so there isn’t much of it to get deposited in the first place.

#3 Toxic particles and heavy metals aren’t abundant in vape juice… and don’t linger in the air – a 2017 University of San Diego study shows that these particles are just too heavy – and not found in large quantities in vapes – to be of any concern to non-vapers.

But, as I said, there are still competing studies out there and this matter is far from concluded.

Regardless of what comes out of it, remember this:

“If someone asks you to abstain from e-cigarette use around them, just do it – respect their concern and realize that we do not know the full long-term effects of vaping. And also – you won’t die if you take a 30-minute vape break.”

Before I go into the nitty-gritty of secondhand vaping aerosol exposure, let’s first make sure we all know what we’re talking about.

What is Secondhand Vapor?

Secondhand vapor is aerosol exhaled into the atmosphere by e-cigarette users. It’s similar to secondhand smoke in the way that it does linger around, so people who are in the immediate vicinity will inhale it.

But… unlike cigarette smoke – which is created by combustion – secondhand vapor doesn’t contain many of the harmful chemicals found in smoke. The number of fine particles of heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and toxic substances is minuscule here. A lot of health professionals agree that vaping prevents premature death caused by smoking in an effective way, by reducing the number of people suffering and dying from bronchitic symptoms, cardiovascular diseases, adverse respiratory symptoms and lung diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, and more.

That said, this doesn’t mean that vape aerosol is 100% safe when we talk about the person inhaling it. We need more studies to confirm that. However, it does confirm that e-cigarette aerosol doesn’t pose much of a health risk. At least, not as much of a threat as tobacco products.

Does It Contain Toxic Chemicals?

To be perfectly honest, it does.

But there are toxic chemicals in mountain air… or the air you exhale without breathing anything in.

Perspective is everything in this case.

A Portland State University (PSU) study is the harshest on vaping aerosols and it found that only 15 compounds are produced when heating up vape juice.

ONLY 15 COMPOUNDS!

Considering that PSU is a staunch opponent of vaping (already discredited by leading experts and the vaping community), that’s saying something. If their findings could be stretched to say that vaping is harmful to others, they most definitely would be.

Also, a widely circulated study by Public Health England from 2015 actually concluded that vaping is approximately 95% safer than smoking, and its authors encouraged the use of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.

Studies Debunk This Common Myth

There are several other studies that deal predominantly with secondhand vaping, all of which have concluded that vaping is not harmful to non-vapers. Igor Burstyn from Drexel University took a most thorough look at passive vaping in his literature review titled Peering Through The Mist. In it, he examined over 9,000 observations on vape aerosol, which he found through PubMed search.

Essentially, Burstyn took the same guidelines that are used to ensure workplace air quality and safety [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] and assumed that innocent bystanders are unwilling to assume any risk of passive vaping whatsoever. He then examined particulate matter that’s produced by vaping and concluded the following: “Current state of knowledge about chemistry of liquids and aerosols associated with electronic cigarettes indicates that there is no evidence that vaping produces inhalable exposures to contaminants of the aerosol that would warrant health concerns by the standards that are used to ensure safety of workplaces”.

[For more on workplace vaping, check out this blog post.]

What does this mean?

It means that vaping in and off itself would not be prohibited by agencies that are responsible for ensuring workplace air quality. There’s just no reason to do it, considering that vaping doesn’t violate any of the restrictions set forth by those agencies.

Almost No Effect On Indoor Air Quality

In a study published in the Public Library of Science also looked at secondhand vapor trying to determine if vaping is harmful to others.

This study looked at 300 homes in the San Diego area and its purpose was to examine air quality of households where there was evidence of indoor smoking and vaping and compare it with the air quality of households that were smoke and vapor-free. Scientist set up measuring devices in all the households and then collected the data for further analysis. Out of 43 homes that reported indoor vaping, according to the data, none had poorer air quality and no air pollution was detected.

In fact, the researchers had this to say about air quality decrease as connected to vaping: “We observed no apparent difference in the weekly mean particle distribution between 43 homes reporting any electronic cigarette usage and those reporting none.”

In essence – vaping indoors is the same as not vaping indoors. Your air quality will not change and you’re most certainly not putting anyone at risk. Although it’s logical to assume that some particles could be observed in the process, their amount is so minuscule that it doesn’t worry most scientists.

A Caveat – Pregnant People & Minors

One thing that I’d like to warn about is secondhand vapor and pregnancy.

A lot of pregnant women are concerned about it, especially if their partners are vapers. Although there seems to be no immediate cause for alarm, I would still caution against pregnant women spending too much time in enclosed spaces where people are vaping.

This is a case of “better safe than sorry”. While it’s safe to assume that adults are not at risk from secondhand vapor, no studies have been done on in-utero subjects so we don’t really know what the effects would be.

An unborn baby, at least in these instances, is entitled to as much protection as possible so future mothers (and the vaping community around them) should be sensitive about that fact.

And also, I would extend this to not vaping around young people who are not vaper themselves and young children, even in public places. Remember, you’re vaping only because you want to quit an even worse habit. Don’t put ideas into young minds that it’s something cool that they should be doing.

Should You or People Around You Be Worried?

The short answer is – not really.

We know quite a lot about secondhand vaping, and to get to such high levels of secondhand exposure, the circumstances need to be remarkable. Still, if there are people around you worried about health impacts and long-term health effects, make sure to respect their wishes and don’t use your vape pen around them.

The truth is – even if secondhand nicotine vape exposure was a thing, you’re doing it as help for quitting. And it’s not like it’s secondhand cigarette smoke.

That said, we’re still gathering information on the health impacts of vaping.  While secondhand aerosols and e-cigarette vapor don’t seem to be of much concern, we can’t claim that it’s safe.

So be respectful of others when you use your vape pen.