Researchers Say Vaping Has the Potential to Be a Greater Respiratory Risk than Smoking

With three tobacco shops in the Lane Cove Village Area, vaping is something that local parents are concerned about.  There were four tobacco shops but the one near Lil Lane Coffee shop is now for lease.

Whenever there is a post on ITC Facebook page about the number of tobacco stores in Lane Cove, there are always comments about vaping products being legal or needed to assist in reducing smoking.   People are concerned about vaping due to the health risks associated with vaping.

Last week as part of Asthma Week, The Woolcock Institute of Medical Research covered known triggers in the home for people with asthma. The Woolcock’s Distinguished Professor Brian Oliver, head of the Respiratory Cellular and Molecular Biology research group, spoke about smoking and vaping and the evidence of the harms done by smoking and vaping in the home.

The dangers are particularly acute for those living with asthma and young children, for whom exposure in the home can cause asthma.

Researchers believe vaping has the potential to be an even greater risk to respiratory health than smoking.

“Vapes are not expensive so you can vape more without it costing you $50 a packet. We know vapes are everywhere in schools and we know they are leading to higher rates of smoking in young people,” says Oliver.

Hidden toxins from smoking and vaping can trigger breathing difficulties and exacerbate asthma symptoms, turning the living space into a potential hazard zone.

We know smoking and vaping can lead to unquantifiable damage to airways.

We know that smoking around children is detrimental for those with asthma and can even increase the risk of having asthma later in life.

“The largest modifiable thing that you can do to reduce the incidence of asthma in children is to stop smoking,” said the Woolcock’s Distinguished Professor Brian Oliver. “This applies equally to women who smoke or who are living in smoking households during pregnancy. If you smoke in a confined space, the exposure is considerable.”

Professor Oliver’s research group has conducted studies showing that residues from smoking or vaping can be left on surfaces and passed on to others through touch.

“In a smoking household, everyone is exposed to the third-hand residues, but infants and young children are at particular risk. They’re into everything – crawling, playing and touching every surface – then putting their hands in their mouths. The effect is like putting a nicotine patch on their skin.”

And the health risks are more than likely the same when it comes to vaping. Professor Oliver suggests they may even be greater.

“There are a whole range of chemicals in vapes that give them their different flavours that just aren’t regulated. We don’t know what effect these may have on human health.”

For someone with asthma, smoking or vaping in the home can trigger more frequent exacerbations, which in turn causes more inflammation in their lungs, making medication less likely to work.

Whilst education is the key to making people aware of these hazards in the home, more intervention is needed.

A leading Australian expert has called for the total banning of direct sales of vaping products.  In a paper published on15 March 2023 Associate Professor Becky Freeman of the University of Sydney says predatory retailers, manufacturers and importers of vaping products have exploited loopholes in regulations to flood the market with illicit products that appeal to young people.

She has called for all sales of vaping products, other than those prescribed by a doctor to aid in quitting smoking, should be stopped to curb skyrocketing uptake of e-cigarettes in young people.

In theory, Australia’s regulatory model should be effective in protecting young people from taking up vaping since a prescription from a medical practitioner is now required to access nicotine-containing products, which must only be used as an aid to quit smoking.

But in practice, Dr Freeman says manufacturers continue to import and sell vaping products that contain nicotine by simply failing to label them as containing nicotine or falsely claiming they are nicotine-free.

“Distinguishing between a legal non-nicotine vaping product and an illegal nicotine-containing device requires laboratory testing, which hamstrings effective enforcement of the regulations,” she writes.

“Stopping the importation of all vaping products into Australia, regardless of nicotine content, unless bound for a pharmacy, would simplify and increase the effectiveness of enforcement and stop the flood of illicit products. This would also end young people’s easy access to vaping products.”

At the March Lane Cove Council Meeting Lane Cove Mayor Andrew Zbik the Lane Cove Council resolved:

Since that resolution there have been two posts on Lane Cove Council’s Facebook about vaping one on 7 May 2023 and one on 26 April 2023 and the Mayor mentioned vaping in his weekly video on 1 May 2023.