Is breathing second hand e-liquid vapour harmful?

We all know about the dangers of secondhand smoke from cigarettes. In fact, that’s one of the reasons many people switch to vaping in the first place. But you might also be worried about the effects of those big ol’ clouds of aerosol that pop up when you inhale from your vape device. 

While it may look like cigarette smoke, there’s no current evidence that these vapour clouds are harmful; ASH (Action on Smoking and Health) reports that there is no harm to health from secondhand vaping and that “the risks are likely to be very low.” It’s normal to be worried about the effects of vaping on your body and the risks to others, but we’ve got you. Here’s everything you need to know about second hand vaping.

No sidestream

Secondhand cigarette smoke is made of both exhaled mainstream smoke and sidestream smoke from the continually burning cigarette. Vapour clouds, however, are made of exhaled aerosol and a small amount of water vapour that is naturally produced in your body. Since e-liquids are only atomised into aerosol when an e-cigarette is in use, ‘sidestream’ vapour does not exist. Win win.

Chemical control

Get ready, there’s some more science coming up. When vape liquid is atomised, the aerosol produced is made of fine particulates of its ingredients. In other words, whatever is in your vape cloud is in your e-liquid – which is exactly why we’re the best place to buy from. At V69, we only work with trusted suppliers, use quality ingredients and follow pharma-grade manufacturing processes. Only the best for you.

There are of course some risks associated with chemicals found in e-cigarette aerosols, however, ASH states ‘they are low compared to tobacco cigarettes,’ while an assessment by Public Health England also found that vaping is at least 95% less harmful than smoking. Two statistics we love to rave about.

Exhale a sigh of relief

Exhaled vapour has an even lower level of chemicals – and especially of nicotine – since a lot is actually absorbed by the vaper while the aerosol is in their lungs. So much so that Public Health England have released a statement saying that e-cigarettes release “negligible levels of nicotine into ambient air with no identified health risks to bystanders.” This means that even if someone does breathe in a bit of vapour you exhaled, they’re not at risk of becoming addicted to nicotine. We hope this puts your mind at ease!

One more thing. We wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we didn’t clarify that while current evidence suggests secondhand vaping poses low risk, the research is still ongoing. So make sure to always be aware of those around you when you vape; and while secondhand vapour is generally safe to be around, there are certain places where you can and can’t vape. We’ve broken it all down here.