There is a lot of information out there, some of it more truthful than others. Below, we will give you the facts and provide links to our sources so you can check them yourselves, allowing you to see the truth and not have to take it at face value.

Quitting smoking is a big decision for anyone who is addicted to cigarettes, and as a company filled with people who have made the switch and struggled, we have a lot of first hand experience with this. For some of us, it was the health benefits that got us off of the fags. Whether that was due to a health scare personally or from close family or friend, or just because we were looking at life, mortality, and decided we wanted to become a centenarian.

Lets look at what the causes of smoking are and how they affect you.

Addiction

First, the addiction. It’s the most obvious one and the biggest problem with nicotine. According to Cancer research UK nicotine itself doesn’t cause cancer but is responsible for people continuing to smoke. NRTs (Nicotine Replacement Therapy’s) have been used for many years to help people quit smoking because of this as the problem lies in the tobacco plant. When you have an addiction, trying to move away can cause something called Withdrawal. The NHS lists these symptoms, such as the strong urge or craving to smoke, feeling restless, irritable or angry and becoming anxious. These feelings get stronger before they ebb away, but it’s these feelings that draw people back to smoking again and why whether people or the media paint us in a good light, the vape industry is here to help. These sensations do go away and are a sign that your body is on the correct path, but as stated above, NRTs are used to help overcome them.

Carcinogens

It’s a word often used when talking about cigarettes but what is it? What does it mean? Wikipedia gives the definition of carcinogen as “any agent that promotes the development of cancer”. Cigarettes contain over 60 known carcinogens from all manner of different types of chemicals. It’s these chemicals that are highly dangerous and cause the overwhelming majority of deaths and ill health in relation to cigarettes and smoking. In comparison, vaping, thanks to the testing done for TPD, is very strict on this. Many reputable laboratories like the one we use for our 3rd party testing will pick up on chemicals that are known to be carcinogenic, let us know, and help us to pick chemicals that are less harmful. This is not something that is done in tobacco as it’s a plant. It just has chemicals. Additionally, burning the cigarette causes something called “partial combustion.” This increases the number of harmful and carcinogenic chemicals produced for the 60 known carcinogens to around 5000 chemicals! Vaping on the other hand, when done correctly, evaporates the chemicals, creating a mist of nicotine and flavour. Under correct use, vaping does not create 1000s of harmful chemicals like smoking!

Cancer

We all know what cancers are. We’ve had family members, friends, colleagues, or even just acquaintances fall prey to it, and the older we get, the more chance we have of having it. Smoking, according to the WHO (World Health Organisation not the band,) is the dominant cause of cancer, accounting for about 20% of cases in 2020 with the types primarily being Lung, Oesophagus, Stomach and Liver. All of these have immense impacts on your life, and as you pass 40 years old, the chance of getting them due to smoking only increases. This is why the vape industry has been trying to convince people the world over to move away from tobacco. We know that you can’t just delete it from the world, so we offer something that will help to move away from it, hopefully allowing for the burden on health to be reduced. There is much misinformation about vapes, claiming that they are filled with chemicals that cause cancer like PG (Propylene Glycol). Here is a safety data sheet for PG, not our own, I didn’t want you thinking I was being misleading, it’s from the New Jersey Department of Health and is publicly accessible. On page 2 you will find the section covering “Health Hazard Information.” You will see it says “No evidence ~”. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been tested. We’ve used PG for over a century in many industries. Including food, fragrance, medicine and cosmetics. I’ll once again point you to the TPD testing, and the fact that we actively remove harmful chemicals. At QLabs, we have held back flavours such as our Blue Fusion for this very reason. Our 3rd party flagged a problematic chemical that we hadn’t, and when they did, we held back the flavour, reformulated it, and went back to them for more testing to ensure we’d remedied the issue correctly. It’s also why we don’t release flavours every other month like some do. Additionally, reputable flavour houses (the companies that makes and handles the chemicals in the flavours and performs the initial mixing while they are in their dangerous concentrations) change their formulations immediately when they discover a chemical that is dangerous in a formulation. This is part of why flavours can change sometimes.

Tar

One of the longest running known problems of smoking, Tar. This is actually where the first version of the electronic cigarette was developed from. Around 1926, the first tobaccoless cigarette was made and patented, though this required you to plug it into a wall and was not exactly convenient. So what is Tar, and why has it had technical improvements to one of the worst products on the planet to remove or limit it? Tar, as described by the NHS, is a “sticky brown substance” that “contains cancer causing particles” and “damages your lungs by narrowing the small tubes (bronchioles) that absorb oxygen and damages the small hairs (cilia) that help protect your lungs from dirt and infection.” To dive a little further into it, the Tar causes inflammation in your lungs. It does this through the carcinogenic chemicals irritating the lining of your airways. This narrows them, reducing the amount of oxygen you can inhale and the amount of carbon dioxide you can exhale. Second, the cilia. Tar is sticky, if you’ve ever cleaned the house of a smoker (that smoked inside) you’ll understand just how sticky it is and how much cleaning it takes to get rid of it from the walls. That Tar clings to the hairs in your lungs that help to remove dust and dirt from them, causing those hairs to stick to each other and the walls of your lungs. When this happens, they can no longer do their job resulting in more inflammation due to dust and dirt building up along with phlegm. This is where a smoker's cough comes from. 

So how do Vapes help? E-cigarettes contain 0 (Zero, nil, not a drop) Tar. The chemicals used to make e-liquid are either derived from a natural source or are something called Nature Identical. Then, they are heavily screened to ensure dangerous ones are not present, things like the ones that make tar. Ensuring that when they come from a natural source, chemicals known to be harmful are removed.

TSNAs

A less known fact about tobacco and one that has lead to myths around non-smoking tobacco products, tobacco products contain something called TSNAs (Tobacco Specific Nitrosamines). These are a group of chemicals found in tobacco that are carcinogenic and are why, even if you aren’t smoking cigarettes, i.e. you instead use snus or chewing tobacco etc, you are still at risk of various cancers. Many people wrongly believe that cancer comes from the act of smoking the cigarette but it does not, that notion is only partly correct as the smoke, carbon monoxide and tar come from smoking the cigarettes, however, if tobacco is involved, then these chemicals are present. This includes IQOS sticks which are touted as being much safer than smoking a traditional cigarette. These TSNAs are still present and on a gram for gram basis are either only slightly better or the same as other non-smoking tobacco forms. The claims that are made are per stick, which when the research looks at other forms as per gram, something that weighs only 0.3 grams has the edge in comparisons. But scaling it up, there is not much difference.

So what do these TSNAs do? Well, as I said, they are carcinogenic. This means that they are extremely damaging to the human body, and cause cancers, tumors and other malignant growths where they interact with the body, being a primary cause in things like mouth and throat cancer, pancreatic cancer and others.

What about vaping? Is that not a non-smoking tobacco product? 

No, it is not. It is actually not a tobacco product, and so long as non of the ingredients are directly derived from tobacco, the vape will not contain TSNA’s. While nicotine comes from tobacco, it is possible to make nature identical nicotine in a laboratory, usually referred to as “synthetic nicotine”. In this case, there is no chance for TSNA’s to be present and outside of extremely specific circumstances where the product can have a reaction that creates some of these (and I mean, extremely specific, chances of ever seeing it are probably 0) you will not be inhaling these chemicals. And even if you do take your nicotine from a tobacco product to put in the eliquid, for a like for like nicotine intake, vaping is far safer.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide. We have gas alarms in our homes to check for this. It is odorless, it is colourless, and it claims lives every year. But how does it do this? When it enters your body it binds to the haemoglobin in your blood, preventing it from carrying oxygen. When it does this it starves your body of oxygen and prevents it from expelling carbon dioxide. This causes a myriad of issues, from becoming dizzy and feeling nauseous, to suffering muscle pain and confusion and suffering heart problems. Long term, this can result in loss of vision and dementia! This is also one of the worst components of second hand smoke as it comes directly from the combustion of the cigarette. Smoking around more vulnerable people seriously harms them with this and is one of the big reasons for governments around the world pushing for smoke free zones in public spaces. With that though, if you can’t quit nicotine quite yet, I have some good news for you. Vaping does not combust anything. This means that Carbon Monoxide does not come out of vapes.

What happens when you quit smoking?

Quitting smoking is a big decision, but it’s a good decision and comes with many benefits. Above we have gone over negatives that come with smoking, and highlighted how vaping either doesn’t cause or actually minimises the risks associated with nicotine addiction, but what are the benefits?

First, a small timeline.

If you have just smoked a cigarette, and you stop now, never to touch them again, here is what the NHS says will happen. After 24 hours, your body will have gotten rid of the carbon monoxide in it which is the first step towards a healthier life. After 48 hours, the nicotine will be out of your system. While you will feel the cravings and withdrawal bad here, it is good. Your taste and smell will improve and your body will start to heal. Depending on your habit, between 2 and 12 weeks will see a marked improvement in your lung function. After 3 months you should see a decrease in coughing, tiredness and your breathing will be better. Your immune system will be handling chest infections better too. 1 year onwards, your chance of mortality will reduce and continue to reduce.

24 Hours

Lets start with the first thing that happens. The first 24 hours, and carbon monoxide. Carbon Monoxide is deadly, and CO poisoning can be very dangerous. In smoking, the amount you get is mediated by the lack of it between cigarettes. Being a poison, your body works hard to get rid of it and after 24 hours, your body should have gotten rid of it. It will have done damage that will take a lot longer to heal, but from this point on, your body will be able to get on top of this. Oxygen transportation in your bloodstream will increase which should make you feel better once the withdrawal symptoms begin to subside and your body will be expelling CO2 better too. This means that you will be able to think clearer and breathe easier! Thanks to the withdrawal symptoms, you might not notice this one straight away. Most people report they feel these things after the first 1 to 2 weeks which is when withdrawal ebbs and your lungs get on top of the pollutants that are clogging them.

48 Hours to 2 Weeks

On the point of withdrawal, here’s a hard one, and why we’re here for you. After 48 hours of going cold turkey, the nicotine in your blood will be gone. Finished, banished to the basin of your toilet (like everything else your body sees as a poison.) This is where the hardest point of withdrawal comes in and there is no NRT that won’t completely rid you of the want for a cigarette. This is because, for years, you’ve trained your brain to see nicotine as a necessity and to look for a cigarette to get it. If you’re not ready to quit nicotine, but want to be healthier and move away from Cigarettes, consistent use of an NRT like a vape can recondition your brain to see nicotine as something separate from a cigarette, and research shows it can help you quit completely with a 60% higher success rate than going cold turkey. As a last point, if you are quitting, let those around you know that you may be irritable for a short period, as your patience for things will likely be very thin for a week or two.

2 to 12 weeks

From 2 weeks on you will begin to see some much sought after improvements to your health.

First, if you’ve not touched a cigarette, whether you are using NRT’s or not, you will find that your lungs are beginning to work better and over the next 2 months, that improvement is going to grow! This is for a few reasons. One, you are not polluting them any more, meaning that they are far less irritated and inflamed. Having no Carbon Monoxide in your blood also means that your lungs are not working overtime to give you the oxygen your body needs to function. Second, all that coughing you’ve been doing? Notice anything odd about the phlegm? No? Well you will. This is because your body is getting rid of the Tar in your lungs. Over time, it will loosen it from the cell walls, bind it up and kick it out. Some will come out in your phlegm and eventually you’ll notice it will change colour, and not because you can see the tar, but because the tar is no longer there. A lot of the Tar will be broken down by your immune system and expelled via your wee like most poisons that we imbibe, but regardless of how our bodies dispose of the toxins, it does it and you will feel so much better for it! If you are using a vape as your NRT, I would like to advise you here to drink some extra water. This is for the PG / VG in the liquid as they like water and with that, can cause a little irritation themselves. Drink a little extra water to help alleviate this, most people find it works.

3 Months onward

After 3 months, you will find that the coughing will decrease and eventually disappear. Yes, this means your lungs have finally managed to clean themselves! DO NOT start smoking again, your lungs are just about clean of tar, they’re not healed! It takes a long time to reverse the damage caused by smoking and while you will feel a LOT better now, it’s still not finished. You should also find either now or fairly soon, that you can’t stand the smell of cigarettes. My wife found out she had this after about 5 months. She still sometimes had an overwhelming craving for a cigarette, but one smell of the smoke made her feel sick. That repulsion is possibly the best sign that you have achieved something with your journey. Why? Because it means that you have reconditioned your brain to not see cigarettes as something necessary. You’ve healed your nose and tongue allowing it to detect poisons and toxins again, and most importantly, your brain is able to reject them based on the smell of things like the ammonia that is in tobacco. When you were addicted to cigarettes, your nose and brain couldn’t detect chemicals like this properly, it had become numb to them. You could smell them, sure, but it didn’t identify them correctly. Now it does! So, from us as VapeHQ and QLabs. Well Done! But it’s not over yet. Like I said, those cravings can still come back, and you have to keep on top of it for a while longer yet.

From this point on though it’s just a case of healing. With the toxins gone, it’s time for your immune system to get to work undoing years of damage. It can do this. Our immune systems are absolutely amazing. Over the next 7 years it will repair most of the damage to your lungs with only the worst damage being left behind. Your blood vessels and heart, with no carbon monoxide dosing, will get a lot stronger and year on year, your chance of heart related illnesses will decrease. After about 10 years you will be back to almost the standard chance for things like this. Unfortunately, cancer risks are not completely reduced to baseline in the same way, they are greatly reduced, but they take the longest to overcome and some might not completely disappear. For your lungs, between 15 and 20 years is what it takes to go back to baseline. What this means is though, the younger you are, the better it is to quit! Get rid of that habit before you are over the age of increased risk. Most cases of cancer, heart disease and other severe illnesses are much more prevalent in older people especially over the age of 55. So if you're, say, 25, 20 years from now, you will be 45 and at the age where risk starts to increase. So why not let your body rid itself of all the toxins now that are going to almost guarantee it?

Now that was a lot to digest, I know. I often get told I info dump on people. So whether you read the whole thing in one go or have had to come back several times to get through it, that's okay. The important thing is that you're here, and I hope, ready to take that step forward into a healthier life. One where you are fighting back against the damages caused by one bad decision that many of us have made, and if you are ready, we are ready to help you!