What We Know Right Now

Vaping has been commercially available since the mid-2000s, which means the technology is only about two decades old. That sounds like a long time but in terms of medical research it is relatively short and the honest answer to whether vaping affects lung function over time is that the evidence is still developing.

What researchers have found so far is both reassuring in some areas and concerning in others. The picture is more nuanced than either a clean bill of health or a blanket condemnation. Here is what the best available evidence actually says.

The Key Lung Function Measurements

Before looking at what vaping does to your lungs, it helps to understand what doctors measure when they assess lung function. The main metrics are outlined below alongside what current research shows for each one.

A 2022 systematic review published in npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine analysed eight studies covering these measurements. The broad conclusion was that standard lung function markers like FEV1 and FVC do not appear to be significantly affected by vaping in the short to medium term. However, airway resistance did show changes in multiple studies, which is a signal worth taking seriously.

Airway Resistance: The Key Concern

Airway resistance refers to how much friction air encounters as it travels through your respiratory system. An increase in airway resistance means your lungs have to work harder to move the same volume of air. Over years, that added workload can contribute to chronic conditions.

This is one reason researchers have called for longer and larger studies. Standard lung function tests were designed primarily around smoking-related disease patterns. Vaping may cause a different type of airway response that those tests were not originally built to detect.

Longer-Term Evidence: What One Study Found

The most frequently cited long-term study on vaping and lung function is the Polosa 2017 study, which followed a cohort of vapers for 3.5 years. The findings showed that FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio and FEF25-75 did not change significantly over that period among vapers compared to non-vapers.

That sounds reassuring but there is an important caveat: the study only included 21 participants. That sample size is too small to draw firm conclusions. The researchers themselves described the findings as preliminary and called for larger scale follow-up studies over longer timeframes.

In other words, we have one reasonably encouraging small study covering 3.5 years and almost no data on what happens after a decade or more of consistent vaping.

EVALI: The Acute Lung Injury Risk

Beyond gradual changes to lung function measurements, vaping has been linked to a more acute condition: E-cigarette and Vaping-Associated Lung Injury or EVALI. This emerged as a significant outbreak in the United States in 2019, resulting in thousands of hospitalisations and several deaths.

Investigations strongly linked EVALI to vitamin E acetate, a substance used as a cutting agent in some THC-containing vape products rather than standard nicotine e-liquids. The outbreak reinforced two important points: the contents of vape liquid matter enormously and buying from reputable, regulated UK retailers significantly reduces this type of risk because TPD-compliant products are required to disclose ingredients and meet safety standards.

What Happens Inside the Airways

When you inhale vapour from an e-cigarette, it comes into contact with the mucous membranes of your mouth, throat and airways. The aerosol contains water, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine and flavourings. Most of these are considered safe to ingest but inhaling them is a different matter because the respiratory epithelium was not designed to process the same substances that the digestive system handles without issue.

Diacetyl is a flavouring compound that produces a buttery taste. It was banned in UK e-liquids under the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), which is one reason UK vapers face less risk from this specific concern compared to unregulated markets. That said, the chemical complexity of flavouring compounds means new potential irritants are still being identified and studied.

Vaping vs Smoking: The Comparative Picture

One reason vaping is so widely discussed in a harm reduction context is that the comparison to cigarette smoking matters enormously for public health policy. Public Health England concluded that vaping is around 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes, a figure that has been widely cited though also debated by some researchers who argue the evidence was insufficient to quantify the difference so precisely.

What most experts agree on is that combustion-based smoking causes far more severe and well-documented lung damage, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema and lung cancer, through tar, carbon monoxide and thousands of toxic combustion chemicals. Vaping does not involve combustion, which removes a large category of harm. However, "less harmful than smoking" does not mean risk-free.

For anyone using vaping as a tool to move away from cigarettes, Andy's Vape Shop stocks a carefully selected range of TPD-compliant e-liquids and devices from established UK brands, so you can make informed choices about what you are inhaling.

Who Is Most at Risk?

The research available suggests that certain groups may face a higher risk of lung effects from vaping than others. People who already have respiratory conditions such as asthma, COPD or bronchitis may find that vaping worsens their symptoms even if the baseline spirometry numbers do not change dramatically. Young adults whose lungs are still developing may also be more vulnerable to long-term structural changes.

Frequency and duration of use also appear to matter. Daily, heavy vapers are likely exposed to more cumulative aerosol than occasional users and the studies that do flag changes tend to focus on regular daily users rather than intermittent ones.

Summary: What the Research Does and Does Not Show

What This Means for Everyday Vapers

If you vape regularly and are concerned about your lungs, the most useful thing you can do is use high quality, TPD-compliant e-liquids from regulated UK retailers, avoid buying from unknown or unregulated sources and monitor any changes in your breathing, particularly any new cough or shortness of breath during activity.

If you are switching from cigarettes to vaping, the current evidence strongly supports that you are reducing your lung disease risk compared to continuing to smoke. The goal for most people using vaping as a cessation tool is to eventually reduce nicotine levels and stop altogether, which is the clearest path to improved respiratory health.

You can find more thorough answers to your health-related vaping questions in our Health Guidance hub, which covers everything from sleep quality to oral health and skin effects.