Nine years ago, a group of researchers estimated that electronic nicotine delivery systems, known as e-cigarettes, cause only four percent of the maximum relative harm of cigarettes. However, the authors explained that theirs are only conjectures based on their opinion and not on scientific knowledge about the vaping were based.
Vaping: Even the authorities picked up misinformation
This estimate from the 2014 published in the journal European Addiction Research study became the world’s most cited misinformation about vaping. E-cigarettes were marketed as being 95 percent less harmful than traditional cigarettes.
This misinformation has been heavily criticized by professionals as it was based on the opinion of a small group of people who had no expertise whatsoever in the areas of tobacco control and vaping. They could present almost no evidence.
Even Public Health England used the figure of 95 per cent in its examination of e-cigarettes in 2015. However, the UK authority did not mention the reservations attached to this estimate. This fact has since drawn wide circles, means also Michelle Jongenelis. She is Associate Professor at the Melbourne Center for Behavior Change at the University of Melbourne. It continues to be used in many countries, including Australia, to undermine public health policy.
No differences in health consequences
Vaping involves inhaling toxic substances that can lead to poisoning, lung injury, and burns. E-cigarettes containing nicotine can also lead to dependence or addiction in non-smokers. Young people who use e-cigarettes are more likely than non-smokers to start and become regular smokers.
In addition, e-cigarettes do not lead to a reduction in harm if users continue to smoke, says Jongenelis. A more recent one study from 2020 found no difference between vaping and smoking in terms of smoking-related diseases and self-reported health six years later.
To learn from mistakes
It’s time to forget the “fact” that e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco cigarettes. Public health policy should be based on impartial evidence, not industry guesswork.
Science needs to debunk myths like these often and with factual evidence to prevent lasting influence. It makes it notoriously difficult to get rid of false information once established, Jongenelis concludes.
Sources: Estimating the Harms of Nicotine-Containing Products Using the MCDA Approach (European Addiction Research, 2014); E-cigarettes: an evidence update (Public Health England, 2015); The Conversation; “Tobacco vs. electronic cigarettes: absence of harm reduction after six years of follow-up” (European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, 2020)
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