It May Take 10–20 More Years to Understand the Long-Term Health Effects of Vaping

Researchers in New Zealand are working to determine the long-term health effects of vaping on the country’s youth, who are nearly three times more likely to use e-cigarettes than teenagers in Australia, Canada, or the United States. Although preliminary research has raised concerns, experts acknowledge that it will still take years to reach concrete conclusions.

Kelly Burrows, a researcher at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, began investigating the issue in 2019, when data showed that cigarette smoking was declining, while vaping was rapidly increasing.

“You know, it took 50 years to fully understand the real link between smoking and health issues,” she said. “I’d say because vaping hasn’t been around that long, we’ll need at least another 10 to 20 years to see its long-term health effects.”

Over the past six years, the associate professor has led multiple studies on the topic, focusing particularly on the lungs and respiratory system.

“Every time you vape, some of it remains in your lungs, and e-liquids are quite oily in nature,” Burrows said. “This oil leaves a layer in your lungs, and one of the body’s ways to get rid of it is through inflammation. When that inflammation happens many times a day for many years, that’s what causes disease and tissue breakdown.”

Burrows worked with engineering students to create a vaping robot that collects vapor and freezes it for chemical and pollutant testing. The method found at least 30 different flavoring chemicals in each type of e-liquid. Burrows noted that no one really knows the health and safety implications of these flavoring agents. They also found heavy metals in the aerosol—the substances inhaled and exhaled from vaping devices.

“The heating coils are typically made from a mixture of different metals, and when temperatures get very high, some of those metals can enter the aerosol,” she explained.

In another study, Burrows grew lung cells in a lab and exposed them to vape vapor. Some of the cells died, while others ruptured or became more permeable, meaning that chemicals could more easily be absorbed into the bloodstream.