Vaping simulates smoking. Battery-powered vape devices create an aerosol that looks like water vapor but contains nicotine, flavoring, and more than 30 other chemicals. The aerosol is inhaled into the lungs where the nicotine and chemicals cross over into the bloodstream.

The earliest vape devices looked like cigarettes. Newer models look like a USB flash drive or small pod. 

Vapes come in many shapes and sizes but they have the same basic components, including a battery, sensor, and atomizer/ flavor cartridge. The e-liquid is quickly heated and converted to an aerosol that can be inhaled into the lungs.

Nicotine vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking. It’s also one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking.

Vaping is not completely harmless and we only recommend it for adult smokers, to support quitting smoking and staying quit.

Here you will find the facts on vaping, based on scientific evidence and research, plus advice on how to use vapes (sometimes called e-cigarettes or e-cigs) as a tool to quit smoking.

Vape juice or e-liquid is the liquid that is vaporized into an aerosol cloud. Vape juice most commonly contains three ingredients: propylene glycol and/or glycerin, chemicals for flavoring and nicotine.

99 percent of vape products sold in U.S. convenience stores contain nicotine, including popular products with teens. The amount of nicotine in brands like Juul, Puff Bar and Mojo can be equal to one whole pack of cigarettes.¹ Some vape pods can also contain THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes the user feel “high.” Complicating the issue, vaping doesn’t give off the telltale smell of smoking marijuana or cigarettes.

In general, there are no smoking or tobacco products that are completely safe. The CDC states that “E-cigarettes have the potential to benefit adult smokers who are not pregnant if used as a complete substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products.” Importantly, the CDC recommends that if an adult has used e-cigarettes to quit smoking, the individual should not return to smoking traditional cigarettes.