'A new tobacco epidemic': Experts warn vaping may cause irreversible harm to children’s health

Doctors worldwide are warning that vaping could be creating a new generation of nicotine addicts - with children and teenagers most at risk of long-term, "irreversible harm".

Although marketed as a safer alternative to smoking, increasing evidence shows that e-cigarettes and vapes are far from harmless. Studies have linked them to cardiovascular problems, lung damage, and an increased risk of cancer.

“E-cigarettes have only been on the market for around 15 years, but already there are more than 15,000 research articles - and at least a thousand on health effects. We now know enough to conclude they are not a harmless product," Professor Maja-Lisa Løchen, senior cardiologist at the University Hospital of North Norway, told Euronews Health after speaking at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Madrid this week.

She added that the rapid rise in vaping among young people should be setting off alarm bells globally.

Some 22 per cent of 15 and 16-year-olds in Europe said they vaped on a regular basis, according to a survey published last year that looked at 37 countries. That’s up from 14 per cent five years earlier.

A major paper in the New England Journal of Medicine last year suggested vaping raises the risk of stroke by almost a third (32 per cent).

A gateway to smoking

While smoking rates had been declining for decades, vaping has reversed that trend. In Norway, Løchen said, use among young people has risen from virtually zero to around 11 per cent in just four years - despite a ban on domestic sales. In parallel, cigarette smoking is ticking upwards again.

“We know that starting to vape is like a bridge or a gateway to smoking real cigarettes,” she warned.

“The tobacco industry knows this - they market aggressively to children with sweet flavours and exciting designs. It’s no coincidence. This epidemic is being led and organised by the nicotine industry”.

Health risks still emerging

The complete long-term effects of vaping won’t be fully clear for decades, but researchers already have serious concerns. When e-liquids are heated, they can release harmful chemicals, including formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, both known carcinogens. These can inflame blood vessels and contribute to cardiovascular disease.

Løchen emphasised that vaping stresses the cardiovascular system in ways strikingly similar to smoking.

“It increases blood pressure, raises heart rate, and stiffens the arteries - all of which are risk factors for heart disease later in life,” she said.

Nicotine itself - the addictive component - is particularly damaging to adolescents. The US Surgeon General has warned that it can alter the developing brain, affecting memory, learning, and attention.

The need for regulation and education as prevention

Responses to the vaping boom vary widely. In the European Union, regulators have limited nicotine concentrations and banned marketing targeted at minors, though enforcement is patchy.

In Norway, sales are officially banned - yet young people can easily buy products online. Meanwhile, in the United States, flavoured e-cigarettes remain widely available despite repeated calls from public health officials for tighter restrictions.

The World Health Organization has also urged countries to treat e-cigarettes as harmful products, warning in a 2023 report that they are not an effective quitting tool compared to existing nicotine replacement therapies.

Beyond legislation, experts argue that education will be key. Løchen said that schools, parents and communities all need to play a role in dispelling the “myth” of vaping as harmless.

“It has to be banned, but it also has to be known among the general public and among health workers that vaping is really harmful. Teachers have to be trained, it has to be part of school curricula, and parents have to be involved," she said.

"Right now, many still think it’s a safe product, or even a good tool for quitting smoking - but that’s simply not true”.