Cigarettes have been around long enough for extensive research on their health implications, but vaping was popularized during the 2010s, so there hasn’t been as much time for researchers to understand long-term effects. Pulmonary and critical care physician Dr. Douglas Haden cited concerns that vaping could lead to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which can cause chest tightness, wheezing, lack of energy, lung infections and more.
“In the short term, we know that young people who vape are much more likely to have difficulty with their asthma, chronic cough, chronic phlegm production and more episodes of bronchitis requiring treatment,” Dr. Haden said. “What we really don’t know, though, is what the long term ramifications are going to be. There are concerns that people will develop something called COPD, which is something that you can get from smoking combustible cigarettes.”
Copeland has seen friends struggle with nicotine addiction and try, often unsuccessfully, to quit.
“Most people in their lives, at some point, are going to want to quit nicotine,” Copeland said. “And when they get to that point, it’s going to be a very hard thing to do. As you use it longer, you increase your blood pressure, it hardens your arteries in your heart and makes you susceptible to heart issues. You’re just setting yourself up for long-term struggles.”
One cartridge of vape fluid can have as much nicotine as 600 cigarettes, and this potency can cause people who vape excessively and kids who accidentally drink vape fluid to get nicotine poisoning, sometimes resulting in death.
“The big things they worry about are the renormalization of smoking behavior, the gateway to ultimately using combustible cigarettes, nicotine dependence and risk for nicotine poisoning, which can be from just using it too much,” Dr. Haden said. “Rarely do people do that to themselves smoking cigarettes, but it’s easy to do with a vape.”
Bradshaw has tried vaping firsthand, but chose not to continue because of the possibility of addiction.
“I have tried vaping just because I was interested in what it felt like, but it has never been something I wanted to get into,” Bradshaw said. “I choose not to vape because of the addiction that I know it can take on people, as well as the health consequences, but mainly the addiction.”
Dr. Haden said there may be unknown risks to the aerosol ingredients in vapes that aren’t in combustible cigarettes.
“We don’t know the long term ramifications of the exposure to the aerosol components,” Dr. Haden said. “What we do know, though, is that if you heat up the fluids that are put into an e-cigarette, you produce things like formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and other things that we know are not good for you to be breathing in, but we don’t know what the actual concentrations will be yet.”
In 2019, EVALI, or E-cigarette or Vaping Product Use-Associated Lung Injury, was reported across the U.S., causing 68 deaths. The CDC found this was due to vitamin E acetate in the vape fluid, and a series of state bans and manufacturing changes ended the use of this additive. Dr. Haden is optimistic vaping won’t continue to cause severe disease.
“Back when there was the outbreak of really bad EVALI, I took care of one patient who was very sick and on a ventilator who ultimately survived,” Dr. Haden said. “Hopefully, the bulk of that really severe disease won’t happen again.”
School nurse Wanda Taylor has noticed students sneak vapes into her office bathroom.
Atlanta Public Schools does not currently plan to implement vape detection device across the district.
“Currently, Atlanta Public Schools does not have vape detection technology districtwide as it has not been a widespread issue in our schools,” the district said. “However, our school administrators and our safety and security team will continue to vigilantly monitor the situation and make adjustments if necessary.”
However, Taylor said detectors would be helpful.
“I used to work in a jail, so I see tricks,” Taylor said. “I see students want to come in my bathroom, because you could vape in my bathroom, I would never know because the vape doesn’t have an odor and if you’re in there you can [vape]. So if people take a little too long, I bam on the door and say ‘you want me to call the officer to help you come on out of here.’ The kids [will say] they really have to leave the classroom: ‘I have to go, I have to go right now,’ because they need to hit that vape. Some schools are having vape detectors, I wish they would get up here.”
Dr. Haden said youth are more likely than adults to share vapes, which can spread disease.
“Young people are commonly co-using cigarettes and electronic cigarettes, and that’s going to inevitably lead to an increase in respiratory symptoms,” Dr. Haden said.
Improper disposal of the lithium ion batteries in vapes can result in fires, chemical pollution and waste of valuable raw materials. Davidson said they save their vapes to dispose of them properly, but also recognizes that vaping has some unavoidable environmental consequences.
“I do keep all of my [vapes], and then at some point, once the bag I have gets too full, I’ll take it to an actual plant that you’re supposed to deliver all of them to so I can safely dispose of them in the correct way, so it doesn’t have a horrible environmental impact,” Davidson said. “I know obviously smoking in general is bad for air pollution, but I try and do the best I can.”
