Vaping: Does It Really Cause Cancer?
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What new study links vaping to cancer?
Hi, I'm Wendy Zuckerman. This is Science Versus. The show that pits facts against fumes. Groundbreaking new research has confirmed a deadly link between e-cigarettes and cancer.
Vaping is likely to cause lung and oral cancer.
Headlines have been screaming about a new paper that's rocking the vaping world, claiming that vaping is more dangerous than we thought. We're hearing that not only is it likely to cause cancer, but also that something that scientists have been telling us for years is wrong.
So is it safer to vape than smoke? Well, now the science is in. New research has found vapes are no safer than conventional cigarettes.
The conclusion is unavoidable. We can hardly say that e-cigarettes are somehow safer than conventional cigarettes.
vaping is as bad as cigarette smoking? Now, if this is true, it is a huge switcheroo for science. And also for science versus.
Why do some scientists believe vaping causes cancer?
For literally a decade, we've been telling you that vaping is a safer and better alternative to smoking. In a past episode, we even played you a song written by a bunch of researchers about it.
So did we lie to you?
Through song? Will we fall on our own batard? I mean, will we be hoisted on our own... batard? Well, the thing is, while some nerds have been supportive of this new paper that's sparking all these headlines... Others are not. And in fact, right after the paper was published, a bunch of scientists wrote angry responses, calling the paper misleading, problematic, and saying it has little credibility. So what's going on here? And getting this right is a big deal. Millions of folks, including kids, have picked up vaping around the world. So today on the show, we are asking, one, does vaping cause cancer? Two, is vaping as bad as smoking now? And three, could picking up a vape ever be good for your health?
What criticisms exist against vaping-cancer claims?
When it comes to vaping, there's a lot of... No, no more songs until we work out what the devil's going on here. And it's all coming up just after the break.
Hi, Wendy here. Today we are finding out, is vaping more dangerous than we thought? And with me to sort all of this out is senior producer Rose Rimler. Hi, Wendy. Hello, Rose.
I don't think I've ever heard that song before in my life. Do we play that?
We played it. So memorable, seemingly. I've had it in my head all week. In the middle of the night, this acoustic guitar will just start ringing.
All right, let's jump into this new study that's setting the vaping world alight, igniting all these news reports.
Is vaping as dangerous as smoking?
It is quite interesting, and the implications are super, super important. So... I want to work out what's going on. What's this science fight all about? Yeah. So to get to the bottom of this, Rose, you and I, we read this paper. And then I called up one of the lead authors, Professor Bernard Stewart. He's at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
Good morning.
Morning. Now, Bernard told me that basically his entire career has been using research to figure out whether various things in our environment cause cancer. So a decade ago, he was part of this big international team that looked at the characteristics that a substance has to have for it to be considered carcinogenic. He's looked at PFAS, you know, forever chemicals.
Microplastics, pesticides in soil.
But when he was watching the data coming out on vapes or e-cigarettes, he told me... This, to me, was a far greater worry.
Do vapes effectively help people quit smoking?
Out of curiosity, did he ever find evidence that something didn't cause cancer?
Yes. Yes, he did. And he actually specifically told me, you know, we have this idea that everything causes cancer. But he said that's not true. Okay, that's good. And in that context, he was worried about vaping causing cancer. So he and his colleagues pulled together studies published from 2017 to the middle of last year that were looking for a link between vaping and cancer, and they wrote it up in a review paper. Mm-hmm. And so now I kind of want to go through the case that Bernard is making that vaping causes cancer.
Mm-hmm.
So we know that some of the chemicals found in vape aerosols, I'm thinking acrylamide, benzene and various metals, they can cause cancer in humans.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What new study links vaping to cancer?
0:00–1:10
2
Why do some scientists believe vaping causes cancer?
1:10–2:27
3
What criticisms exist against vaping-cancer claims?
2:27–3:28
4
Is vaping as dangerous as smoking?
3:28–4:27
5
Do vapes effectively help people quit smoking?
4:27–5:42
6
How is Big Tobacco involved in vaping research?
5:42–7:08
7
What are the health risks associated with vaping?
7:08–8:09
8
What conclusions can we draw about vaping and smoking?
8:09–40:03