 Hey guys, and welcome back to another episode of Everything Science. On today's episode, we'll be looking at these little guys. Don't forget to leave a like and subscribe, and let's jump in. So is vaping really safe? Well, to answer that, we're gonna have to take a step back. The first e-cigarette was invented in China by Honolik as a safer and cleaner way to inhale nicotine after his father passed away from cancer associated with smoking. An e-cigarette is a pretty basic concept. They work by heating a liquid into a vapor that gets inhaled by the user. Once inside the body, the vapor condenses into a liquid and the nicotine flavorings and other chemicals are absorbed by the lungs. Use of e-cigarettes has exploded in recent years, especially in the US and UK where they come in over 500 brands and global sales topped $7 billion. So why do people use e-cigarettes? Well, there are a variety of reasons why people vape, but most boil down to for recreational use because people think it's a healthier alternative to smoking, to quit smoking, or to get around smoke-free laws. So let's look at these reasons. First off, are e-cigarettes safe? To start off, let's put them in context with traditional cigarettes. Traditional cigarettes contain cadmium, arsenic, tar, and hydrogen cyanide and eventually kill half of all people that smoke them. But most of the toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke are absent in e-cigarette aerosol and those that are present are mostly below 1% of the levels found in tobacco smoke. So question solved, right? E-cigarettes are far safer than their alternatives and should be used to help people quit smoking? Well, unfortunately it's not that simple. First off, nicotine. Before we begin, it's important to mention that not all e-cigarettes contain nicotine, although the vast majority do. Even for e-cigarettes that don't contain nicotine, it's important to remember that the other chemicals found in e-cigarette liquid are not safe. According to a study conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration, inhalation of chemicals found in most e-cigarettes are known to cause respiratory diseases, especially at the concentrations found in most vaping devices. And for the rest of vaping devices? Nicotine is a toxic substance. It raises your blood pressure and spikes your adrenaline, which increases your likelihood of having a heart attack. While e-cigarettes are safer than their tobacco alternatives, at the end of the day there's no getting around that nicotine is a dangerous and harmful drug and can hurt brain development which continues to the early to mid-20s. On top of that, exposing your lungs to chemicals in general isn't a good idea since your alveoli, the part of your lungs responsible for pulling oxygen out of the air are very sensitive to foreign chemicals. What's worse, many e-cigarette users get even more nicotine from vaping than they would from a tobacco product. According to research at a Stanford University, in recent years, Juul, one of the largest and most popular vape companies, has created a nicotine arms race, pushing the vape market into more than doubling the amount of nicotine in a single vape pod. Experts say that now a single 5% vape pod contains as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes, which makes the product highly addictive for nicotine naive teens. So no, vaping isn't safe. Now, let's look at the claim that vaping overall is good because it helps people quit smoking. First off, while in theory vaping should help people quit smoking, in practice this doesn't work. A study from a leading British research firm found that 90% of smokers couldn't quit after vaping, and meta-analysis published in the Lancet found that adult smokers who tried e-cigarettes were 28% less likely to stop smoking. On top of that, many people who vape are using it as the starter of their path to smoking, not the end of it. Over half of vaping teenagers have never smoked a real cigarette and think vaping is a safe option, according to Coventry University, which is especially dangerous considering how heavily e-cigarettes are marketed towards young people. In fact, the problem has gotten so bad that in 2018, the US Surgeon General reported that e-cigarette use among high school students had increased 900%. As a result, the Surgeon General issued just the fourth general advisory notice in the last decade, calling vaping among youth and epidemic in the United States. One reason this is especially problematic is that a study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that e-cigarette users are nearly four times more likely to start smoking within six months of using e-cigarettes compared to non-users. This means that, especially among younger generations that make up the majority of vapors, e-cigarettes are much more likely to get someone on smoking rather than get them off of it. Let's take a look back in time. Before e-cigarettes were first introduced, smoking rates amongst teenagers had been steadily and consistently decreasing for more than a decade, but now this decrease hasn't only halted its reversed course. But why are young people starting to vape in unprecedented numbers? Well, it comes down to marketing. The Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1970 banned companies from advertising cigarettes on television and radio after the 1964 Surgeon General report that linked cancer and chronic bronchitis to smoking. Before this, young people were explicitly targeted by cigarette companies with celebrity endorsements. And cartoon characters like Joe the Camel that highlighted smoking as the latest cool trend. But e-cigarette companies have skirted these rules, claiming immunity while creating flavors like bubblegum and cotton candy and making advertisements aimed at millennials to make use of their products seem cool. Now, companies like Juul will tell you their products are safe and good to use, but that's just what Big Tobacco told us decades ago. Let me begin my questioning on the matter of whether or not nicotine is addictive. Let me ask you first, and I'd like to just go down the row, whether each of you believes that nicotine is not addictive. I heard virtually all of you touch on it and just yes or no. Do you believe nicotine is not addictive? I believe nicotine is not addictive, yes. Mr. Johnston. I don't believe that nicotine or our products are addictive. I believe nicotine is not addictive. I believe that nicotine is not addictive. I believe that nicotine is not addictive. And I too believe that nicotine is not addictive. The marketing efforts of companies like Juul can be seen in public perception. According to Gallup polls, while 83% of people aged 18 to 29 think smoking is harmful for human health, only 22% believe the same is true for e-cigarettes. So what can be done about this issue? Well, in recent months, the FDA has stepped up its efforts to police e-cigarettes and more and more places around the country are looking into legislation that would ban e-cigarette use in public spaces, much the same way traditional smoking is. And besides that, you at home can raise awareness by sharing this video with your friends before they get caught up in the trap. While we don't have all the facts just yet, day by day it appears increasingly likely that e-cigarettes are damaging lungs, creating addictions, and drawing young people into smoking rather than freeing smokers from their addictions. And this doesn't look set to change anytime soon. If you're interested in any of the sources used in this video, you can find those links in the description below. If you found this content informational and are interested in seeing more, don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe so you don't miss out on any future videos.