Study: Parents who Vape are Generally Trying to Quit Smoking

A recent study by researchers from MassGeneral Hospital for Children (MGHfC), has indicated that parents who use both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes may be more receptive to smoking cessation interventions than parents who use cigarettes only, as most start using e-cigarettes with the intention of quitting smoking.

Diane Caruana

April 26, 2019

“Our findings suggest that smoking parents who start using e-cigarettes may have done so out of a desire to quit smoking,” said lead study author Emara Nabi-Burza, MS, of the MGHfC Division of General Academic Pediatrics and the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Tobacco Research and Treatment Center (TRTC).

Research has suggested that vaping probably has a minimal impact on indoor air quality.

The problem, added Nabi-Burza, is that some end up being dual users. “However, many of them end up becoming dual users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, maintaining their addiction to nicotine and also exposing their children to e-cigarette aerosols, which contain hazardous substances.”

The researcher said that the study pointed out that dual users were as likely as smokers-only to allow smoking in their homes, and more likely to allow vaping in both homes and car. She added that this may be due to a belief that e-cigarette aerosols contain fewer health hazards than cigarette smoke, and inaccurately stated that recent research does not support this.

E-cig vapour is not as toxic as secondhand smoke

Nabi-Burza’s concern may be unfounded, as a peer-reviewed study released last Summer comparing e-liquid vapour to cigarette smoke, had indicated that exhaled e-liquid vapour product particles are actually liquid droplets that evaporate within seconds. In line with what previous air samples had suggested, this study had indicated that vaping probably has a minimal impact on indoor air quality.

The study titled “Characterization of the Spatial and Temporal Dispersion Differences between Exhaled e-cigarette mist and Cigarette Smoke,” was published in the renowned journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research. For both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes, the particle concentrations registered following each puff were in the same order of magnitude. However, for vaping products the particle concentration returned to background values within a few seconds, whilst for cigarettes it increased with successive puffs, only returning to background levels after 30-45 minutes.

Read Further: Medical Press