Some people switch to smoking electronic cigarettes (vaping) after quitting regular cigarettes.
According to the Current Care Guidelines, there is not enough evidence of how effective electronic cigarettes are for quitting smoking. E-cigarettes that contain nicotine maintain the nicotine addiction.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that electronic cigarettes are harmful to health and that there is not enough evidence on the long-term health effects of using them or being exposed to their vapour.
In the Finnish Tobacco Act, e-cigarettes and the liquids used in them are treated as tobacco products. The Tobacco Act prohibits the advertising, indirect advertising and other promotion of electronic cigarettes.
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If you are considering starting vaping, keep these things in mind:
- There are both nicotine-containing and non-nicotine e-liquids available.
- The quality of e-liquids varies. Find out about the ingredients and make sure that the labelling is in accordance with the law.
- No reports have been published on how safe propylene glycol and glycerol (substances used in e-liquids) are when inhaled into the lungs. If the heating element overheats, it can generate harmful substances in the vapour, such as formaldehyde, which is a carcinogenic substance.
- E-cigarettes emit glyoxal and methylglyoxal, substances known to be harmful to the lungs.
- Sweet flavouring chemicals seem to cause more harm to lung cells than unflavoured nicotine-containing e-liquids.
- If you use electronic cigarettes, you should only use devices and liquids from retailers who have a license under the Finnish Tobacco Act.
25 facts about e-cigarettes
E-cigarettes are not recommended for quitting tobacco.
Their use maintains nicotine addiction.