We trust doctors and scientists to dispense sound advice that will help us lead healthier lives. Sadly, when it comes to smoking and lung cancer–one of the most critical public health threats of our day–many experts don’t tell the truth.
Instead of informing smokers that nicotine vaping could significantly reduce their risk for lung cancer, many anti-tobacco groups have deliberately obfuscated this lifesaving fact. “Vaping produces …chemicals known to be harmful and cause serious health problems such as cancer, ”the American Cancer Society declares in atypical example of this misleading rhetoric.
The problem for ACS is that vaping actually stands out as a transformative tool in the fight against smoking related mortality, helping millions of people avoid the devastating consequences of combustible tobacco use.
The problem for ACS is that vaping actually stands out as a transformative tool in the fight against smoking-related mortality, helping millions of people avoid the devastating consequences of combustible tobacco use.
Smoking and Lung Cancer: a Primer
The primary mechanism behind smoking-related lung cancer is the inhalation of carcinogenic substances like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), and aldehydes, produced during the burning of tobacco.
Vaping, by contrast, heats a liquid containing nicotine without combustion, drastically reducing the presence of these toxins. A2017 study published in Annals of Internal Medicine compared toxicant levels in smokers who switched to e-cigarettes with those who continued smoking. The researchers found that after six months, former smokers who fully transitioned to vaping had significantly lower levels of TSNAs and volatile organic compounds—key carcinogens linked to lung cancer—than those who persisted with cigarettes.
Further evidence comes from a 2023 study in Nature, which concluded that vaping is “associated with much lower exposures to many harmful chemicals associated with smoking related disease.” This dramatic decrease aligns with the principle of harm reduction: although nicotine itself is habit forming, it is not a primary driver of lung cancer—combustion byproducts are.
Chronic exposure to these chemicals is a critical precursor to lung cancer, suggesting that vaping may interrupt the carcinogenic process early on. While the study doesn’t directly measure cancer incidence, it underscores vaping’s potential to mitigate risk over time.
What About the Mice?
Critics often cite animal studies showing that e-cigarette aerosol causes lung damage in mice. However, these findings are misleading for human application: the mice are often exposed to unrealistically high doses of chemicals that humans are never subjected to. Importantly, such studies can’t compare vaping to smoking—a critical omission given that vaping is intended as a substitute, not a standalone behavior. Opponents of vaping have developed a risky addiction of their own: reliance on flawed science to justify their advocacy. It may not harm them, but it could very well kill millions of smokers who are indirectly encouraged to keep using cigarettes instead of trying vaping.
For smokers, switching to nicotine vaping offers a practical, evidence-backed path to significantly reduce lung cancer risk, preserving nicotine satisfaction while sidestepping the deadly legacy of combustion. With an estimated two million tobacco users contracting lung cancer annually, there is an urgent need for public health experts to tell the truth about vaping.
