Over the past decade, vaping has emerged as one of the most popular ways to consume nicotine.
Rechargeable and disposable devices are frequently marketed as alternatives to smoking, often framed as options for people trying to quit cigarettes.
Small, pocket-friendly vapes can be easier to hide than cigarettes, which helps explain some of their appeal among teenagers. They’re also sold in a wide range of flavors—such as candy, mint, and fruit—and are heavily amplified by social media trends and content.
Although e-cigarettes are widely considered less harmful than traditional tobacco products—which contain thousands of cancer-causing chemicals—they still come with meaningful risks. These include potential damage to the lungs and heart, along with broader health effects. They also deliver nicotine, sometimes at levels far higher than those found in standard cigarettes.
Despite repeated public health warnings, newer findings suggest vaping may be tied to serious side effects.
Health concerns are especially significant for younger users. The 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey estimates that 1.63 million middle and high school students reported using e-cigarettes, representing 5.9 percent of teens surveyed.
Usage patterns also appear to be intensifying. Another study found daily vaping rose from 15 percent in 2020 to 29 percent in 2024.
Since vaping has only been widely used for a relatively short time, the full picture of long-term outcomes is still developing.
What is already well understood, however, is that nicotine is highly addictive and can be harmful to the developing brain.
Vaping has also been associated with breathing problems and damage to lung cells, which can trigger both short-term and ongoing inflammation. In addition, severe cases of lung injury—known as e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI)—spiked in 2019 and 2020.
Health and wellness expert Jesse Pines told Forbes about the health issues connected to vaping and warned: “The evidence increasingly shows that vaping is associated with multiple adverse health effects and is unsafe for youth.The extent of the long-term consequences remains uncertain given how recently these products entered widespread use.”
Pines flags a number of longer-term worries, particularly for teens and young adults. One major concern is nicotine dependence and potential disruption to brain development, which continues until around age 25. Exposure during adolescence can ‘impair attention, learning, mood regulation and impulse control.’
He also notes that teens who vape are ‘three to four times more likely to go on to smoke traditional cigarettes compared to teens who never vaped’.
Beyond addiction, vaping has been linked to respiratory complications. Aerosol exposure can drive ‘acute and chronic inflammation’, weaken immune defenses, and contribute to ‘airway hyperresponsiveness (e.g., asthma)’.
There are cardiovascular concerns as well, with vaping reported to ‘impairs endothelial function and causes acute hemodynamic changes’ including elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and stiffer arteries.