CoEHAR Study Confirms Vaping Less Toxic Than Smoking

Arecent replication study conducted by the CoEHAR in conjunction with its Replica Project, has shown vaping to be much less toxic than smoking. While many of us already know this, it is still a welcome report to see. Let’s take a look at this study in more detail, and highlight the key points made.

Replica Project
For some background, the Replica Project aims to replicate studies made by other organisations. This ‘sense check’ helps confirm the studies are in fact truthful, which helps eliminate bias agendas being pushed. For instance, the study we are talking about today has already been conducted by the tobacco industry. So to eliminate bias, the Replica Project used 5 universities across the globe to recreate, and validate those studies.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems exhibit reduced bronchial epithelial cells toxicity compared to cigarettes

The message from its study was simple; vaping is safer than smoking. This open science approach allows us to look at how the Replica Project is tackling studies from around the world.

The Study
The study looked at the effects of cytotoxic and inflammatory effects of cigarette smoke and ENDS aerosol (e-cig vapour) on human bronchial cells. This required an in-depth phase of testing over a 2 year period to come to a robust conclusion.

Independent data from various participating laboratories was collected. The results clearly showed a marked reduction in the toxicity of vaping products compared to cigarettes.

Commercially available innovative non-combustible technologies, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) often referred to as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), may reduce the burden of smoking-related morbidity and mortality by substantially reducing exposure to the harmful compounds in cigarette smoke.

It found that e cig vapour contained far less toxins compared to cigarette smoke. This may seem like obvious info, but it is astonishing how many smokers still have false fears when it comes to vaping.

It’s thanks to studies like this that help reassure smokers vaping is one of the best ways to break free from the chains of smoking.

Conclusions
In recently, CoEHAR Director Professor Giovanni Li Volti summed it up simply, saying:

…the final message is the same… e-cigarettes and heated tobacco are far less toxic than traditional cigarettes.

He also went on to discuss other harmful studies, which have put some smokers off vaping. These so-called ‘studies’ often make baseless claims, which is then propagated in the media.

90% of current smokers would switch to a less harmful product if they believed it safe, if they were correctly informed. We are now talking about Covid deaths every day in the newspapers, but we have to remember that we have 5,000,000 people dying every year because of tobacco related products.

Look at the materials, the methods and the patients – and particularly look at whether the people enrolled in the study have a history of cigarette use. If the answer is yes, the chances are there is a big bias in the study.

Our Thoughts
Liam Humberstone, Technical Director at The Electronic Cigarette Company and IBVTA board member, had this to say:

CoEHAR and the Replica Projects work and output is a remarkable example of “good science” on vaping. The results are not that surprising to those that have followed the data carefully. They should be incredibly surprising to any scientist that does not yet believe that vaping is much, much safer than smoking.

The UK has often been referenced as home to the world’s best e-cigarette research. This study was led from Italy, and is an incredible demonstration of ensuring a point is proved unequivocally.

It’s clear we still have a long way to go before vaping is fully accepted. But with more studies like this being released, the future continues to look brighter. We can only hope that smokers put aside their false fears and use vaping to break free from the chains of smoking.