Vaping carries a lot of scrutiny in the public eye. Just like smoking caught a lot of flak during the mid 90s and early 2000s, vaping in public raises an eyebrow. The primary argument that vaping in public should be okay looks at one fact, that it is “just” water vapor. Of course, truth may not always be what everyone says, and science is still looking at the effects of vaping on the body. The big question is, is second hand vape harmful?, With most things, the answer clouds over many different areas between health and science. Fundamentally, the answer to is it harmful is a little subjective. Can it be harmful? Yes. Will you ever be around enough of it to negatively impact your health? Probably not. There are many caveats to this mentality though. To start off, vapor is not simply comprised of water vapor. That does make up most of it, but not entirely. , Many vapes release a concentrated form of aerosol when evaporating vape juice like ruthless ejuice vapor. While water is a big proponent, it also contains high concentrations of ultrafine particles. These particles include a long list of scary sounding scientific words that can cause damage overtime. Some you may recognize as buzz words include cadmium, formaldehyde, lead, nickel, and nicotine. Scary? Right? Well, yes, if someone were to tell you to stop breathing that lead into your lungs, it might cause a bit of alarm. However, keep in mind, that it is looking at parts per million., When breaking something down to the parts per million aspect, you look at the concentration of particles per one million air particles. Many of the studies shown that for many elements, that they equal or exceed that of secondhand smoke from traditional tobacco products. Some of the scariest ones like formaldehyde carry significant worry due to the association with cancer. Many of the elements in the ultra fine particles carry an inherent risk of cancer., Unfortunately, it is time to dial back the fear mongering just a little bit. Facts are, aerosols do produce harmful by products that are known to cause cancer. However, vapor dissipates considerably faster than secondhand smoke. In fact, unless you are right on top of someone, chances are, you may not even realize they are vaping. Before you get up in arms about vaping causing cancer though, remember that under the right light, anything can give you cancer. The harmful parts of aerosol found in vapor amounts to an extremely low exposure., So, can second hand vapor be harmful. Technically, yes is the correct answer. Will it harm you? Chances are slim to none that you will ever find a traceable point comparatively. Simply avoiding the brief cloud will reduce any chances significantly. The only thing you may need to be wary of is if you are asthmatic. The vapor itself can trigger asthmatic responses and be uncomfortable for some people. Overall though, It more than likely will not affect you.
