Second by second, the exact effect of vaping compared to cigarettes on the body

• Cigarettes contain over 7,000 chemicals, while vapes contain around 2,000
• Vapes do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements
• READ MORE: Millions more former smokers must be screened for lung cancer

Vaping was once billed as a smoking alternative that delivered a hit of nicotine, with virtually none of the harms.

But no longer.

Thanks to a swathe of recent studies and analyses, it is now well proven that electronic cigarettes – which use vapor instead of smoke – are linked to a range of alarming risks, from severe damage to blood vessels, to permanent lung scarring.

The results have caused experts to question whether e-cigarettes cause less damage, or just a different type of damage, compared to cigarettes – which increase the risk of cancer 15-fold.

Cigarettes contain more than 7,000 chemicals, many of them cancer-causing, while vapes are thought to contain around 2,000.

E-cigarettes also do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, which are considered two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke.

Speaking to DailyMail.com in a recent interview, doctors claimed that vaping nicotine is ‘around 90 or 95 percent’ less harmful than smoking it via cigarettes, but how harmful the remaining effects are is still not fully understood. 

The concern around e-cigarettes is that chemical reactions between the liquid and metal lead to the release of toxic metals such as arsenic, chromium, nickel and lead. 

Studies have found that these metals are associated with a plethora of negative health effects, such as popcorn lung – inflammation in the lungs which causes wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath.

This website has spoken to multiple experts and reviewed several studies to compare what e-cigarettes do when you inhale vape vapor versus cigarette smoke, from the second you inhale to minutes, hours and even months down the line.

Within five seconds

As you suck on an e-cigarette, a battery-powered electric current heats up a coil of thin, high temperature-resistant wire, saturated with liquid containing nicotine and a multitude of other chemicals including flavorings.

The hot liquid converts to vapor, which is inhaled by the user.

Both vapor and cigarette smoke pass through the upper respiratory tract, trachea, bronchi, bronchioles in the lungs and ultimately reach the alveoli – tiny sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged.

There, the vape chemicals pass through the lungs and enter the bloodstream, where they travel all around the body, including to the brain.

But, cigarettes are different.

‘Within the first five seconds of smoking a cigarette, carbon monoxide from the cigarette smoke binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells. This reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen,’ Dr Otulana, an addiction specialist doctor from England, told DailyMail.com.

The effect of this is that the body has to compensate by working harder by increasing breathing and heart rate.

As for nicotine – in both vapes and cigarettes – the addictive substance binds to  proteins in the brain within 11 seconds, triggering signals that instruct the release of hormones dopamine and serotonin, which give you a rush of euphoria, dizziness or anxiety. 

Dr Mark Olfert, a cardiopulmonary physiologist from West Virginia University, told DailyMail.com: ‘As soon as you start to vape or smoke, nicotine triggers the sympathetic system in the brain which wakes you up. It makes you feel lively.’ 

Within 30 seconds

As well as impacting the brain, nicotine has a significant effect on the heart too. The substance raises blood pressure and causes the heart to beat faster. 

Dr Olfert said: ‘The heart rate increases on a scale of seconds to minutes, because nicotine is absorbed very, very quickly.’

But with cigarettes, chemicals such as tar and smoke irritate the lining of your nose and esophagus. The sensitive cells in these tissues become inflamed, which can cause you to cough.

The toxic components and bacteria in cigarettes also kill off the good bacteria in your mouth, causing it to become dry – and triggering bad breath. 

Within five minutes

Over the next few minutes, vaping and smoking will cause the arteries to narrow significantly and blood vessels to constrict, which can lead to higher blood pressure.

This is because of the nicotine, which trigger brain signals that instruct for the narrowing of vessels that supply the heart.