11 questions about tobacco vaporisation that you may be interested in
Warning: we do not in any way promote smoking or nicotine addiction. If you are a non-smoker, do not start. Nicotine is extremely addictive. This article is not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.
- What is vaporization of tobacco?
- What tobacco is used?
- How is vaporizing tobacco different from smoking tobacco?
- Is vaping or smoking tobacco worse?
- Is vaping harmful?
- Is vaping more addictive than a cigarette?
- Will vaping tobacco help with smoking cessation?
- What harmful effects can smoking, vaping or using other tobacco products have on the environment?
- At what temperature to vaporize tobacco?
- What is the best vaporizer for vaporizing tobacco?
- What is produced when tobacco is heated in a vaporizer?
1. What is vaporization of tobacco?
Vaping is the process by which a user inhales and exhales vapour produced by an electrical device such as a vaporizer or e-cigarette. When vaporising tobacco, the user inhales the vapour from a vaporiser whose chamber is filled with tobacco leaves. The tobacco leaves are only heated and no combustion takes place.
Vaporisation was originally invented so that people could inhale nicotine without exposing their bodies to the carcinogens associated with traditional smoking. In addition to tobacco, herbs, cannabis flowers (CBD flowers), liquids (e-liquid) or oils and concentrates can be inhaled.
2. What tobacco is used?
Tobacco vaping uses dry tobacco leaves, hand-rolling tobacco or tobacco removed from a cigarette. It should be added that regular cigarette tobacco is rather unsuitable, as it contains a number of additives that can be harmful to health, regardless of its use as vaping material.
In principle, tobacco can be vaporised in any form, but it is essential that it does not contain any added substances. The choice of tobacco depends on the user's preference. Pipe tobacco is available on the market and is favoured by users for its purity and taste.
The crushing (chopping) of the tobacco leaves plays an essential role. Too large pieces of tobacco do not evaporate as well as smaller ones. To ensure that the leaves are finely shredded, just use a shredder. Cigarette packaging tobacco generally has a good consistency for vaping.
3. How is vaping tobacco different from smoking tobacco?
Vaporisation only heats the tobacco, which is different from smoking, which burns the tobacco and produces harmful by-products such as tar and nitric oxide. Tobacco leaves are burned at a temperature of approximately 900 °C. If the tobacco is heated instead of burned, nicotine is released and tar and other harmful by-products associated with combustion are not produced.
Another difference between smoking cigarettes and vaping tobacco is also time. While smoking a cigarette is a quick affair, when vaping tobacco, the quality flavor lasts up to 10 minutes. This of course will depend on the type of tobacco and the temperature set.
And last but not least, there's the money saving! Although the initial investment in vapes may seem expensive, in the long run vaping will work out cheaper than smoking cigarettes.
Table: vaporisation of tobacco vs. smoking
|
|
Vaporisation of tobacco |
Smoking |
|
Method of use |
Steam inhalation using electrical equipment |
Inhalation of smoke from burning tobacco |
|
Temperature |
The vaporizer vaporizes material at 130-200 °C (even higher, depending on the device and the material to be vaporized) |
Cigarettes burn at 900 °C |
|
Process |
No burning, only heating of the material |
Smoking causes combustion, i.e. burning of tobacco |
|
Odour |
Far less intense than the smell of cigarette smoke, the vapour is reminiscent of the aroma of tobacco leaves and may have subtle, herbal or slightly sweet notes, depending on the type of tobacco.
The vapours usually dissipate very quickly so that no strong odour remains in the room. |
Strong and clinging
|
|
Benefits |
|
|
|
Impacts on health |
Vaping tobacco carries the following health risks:
|
Years of research confirms that smoking is harmful to human health. Risks:
|
4. Is vaping or smoking tobacco worse?
What do you think, is vaping or smoking tobacco worse? This question will be quite easy to answer, as the negative effects of cigarette smoking on human health are well known, with the main problem being the burning of tobacco and paper, which can be avoided with vaping.
As we have already mentioned, vaporisation merely heats the tobacco to the desired temperature and produces vapour. The user gets nicotine into the body, not the other substances that are produced when tobacco burns, such as tar and carbon monoxide.
However, nicotine is still a highly addictive substance. It is addictive because it releases dopamine in the brain, which is why users feel good after vaping or smoking tobacco. Nicotine is not directly responsible for all the harmful effects of smoking, but it does raise blood pressure and speed up the heart, and it is also the reason why people become addicted to cigarettes.
Vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco, but that doesn't mean it's completely risk-free.
5. Is vaping harmful?
Experts agree that vaping is considerably less harmful than smoking, but it is not without risk. While vaping tobacco exposes the user to fewer toxins than smoking, vaping also releases chemicals that can have negative health effects, namely:
- Nicotine: the main psychoactive substance in tobacco, which causes addiction, raises blood pressure and makes the heart beat faster.
- Aldehydes: chemicals that may be present in lower concentrations in vapours. These include formaldehyde, which can irritate the respiratory tract and eyes, cause coughing, nausea or headaches and can contribute to cancer, and acetaldehyde, which can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and has been linked to respiratory tract cancer.
- Ketones and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) can also be released when tobacco is vaporised. These include acetone, which can irritate the eyes and respiratory tract and cause headaches, dizziness and nausea at higher concentrations, and benzene, which is a carcinogen linked to leukaemia and other blood cancers and can also affect the central nervous system.
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are usually present in cigarette smoke or in car exhaust fumes, yet some of these substances may also be present during vaporization. These substances can damage the immune system, cause inflammation of the airways, increasing the risk of asthma and other respiratory problems, and can also cause lung, skin and bladder cancer.
Each of these groups of chemicals has the potential for harmful health effects, especially if the user is exposed to these substances repeatedly (regularly) and over a long period of time.
Although vaping is considered a less harmful alternative to smoking, users still run the risk of exposure to some harmful chemicals that can be released from tobacco when exposed to heat.
6. Is vaping more addictive than a cigarette?
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, so vaping tobacco can be addictive, but it is impossible to say whether it is more or less addictive than smoking cigarettes.
As for e-cigarettes, a 2019 study suggested that e-cigarettes with nicotine may have a higher potential for addiction in young adults than traditional cigarettes.
7. Will vaping tobacco help with smoking cessation?
Vaporising tobacco leaves could be a useful smoking cessation tool for some people, but there are no studies that have investigated and confirmed this possibility.
As for e-cigarettes with nicotine, a 2021 study found that daily use of e-cigarettes can make smokers 8 times more likely to quit. The research evaluated data from the PATH (Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health) study from 2014-2019 and focused on smokers who had no plans to quit at the start of the study period. At the end of the study, 28% of smokers who used e-cigarettes daily had quit smoking completely, and 45.5% of smokers had quit tobacco daily.
Another randomised control trial in 2019 also suggested that daily use of e-cigarettes leads to nearly 2 times the smoking abstinence rate after 1 year than other nicotine replacement products.
If you vape tobacco to quit smoking, you should ideally aim to eventually quit vaping too. Your doctor or a smoking cessation specialist can help you quit.
8. What harmful effects can smoking, vaping or using other tobacco products have on the environment?
"With every cigarette smoked, smokers are literally burning the resources on which our very existence depends," said Dr Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at the World Health Organization (WHO).
Cigarette and e-cigarette waste can enter the environment, polluting water, air and soil with toxic chemicals, heavy metals and nicotine residues. An estimated 766 571 tonnes of cigarette butts enter the environment each year.
Did you know that it takes at least 9 months for a cigarette butt to decompose? Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a plastic that only degrades under specific conditions such as the presence of microorganisms, temperature, humidity and oxygen.
In 2021, 1,134,292 cigarette butts were littered in waterways and beaches globally, making it the second most common type of waste in the world after food packaging.
Preliminary studies show that organic compounds such as nicotine, pesticide residues and metals leach from cigarette butts into aquatic ecosystems and become acutely toxic to fish and micro-organisms.
E-cigarette-related waste is an even more serious threat to the environment than cigarette butts because it contains metals, circuits, disposable plastic cartridges, batteries and toxic chemicals in e-liquids.
The batteries and the electronic cigarette devices themselves are made from hazardous substances such as lead and mercury. Unused cartridges and refills contain nicotine salts and heavy metals that leach into soil and waterways or can be eaten by animals.
Add to this the myth that passive emissions from e-cigarettes are harmless. The vapours that are released contain dangerous substances, e.g:
- nicotine
- ultrafine particles of heavy metals, organic and aromatic chemicals
- diacetyl
- benzene (a chemical found in car exhaust fumes)
End-of-life vaporisers are also a major burden on the environment, especially if they are not disposed of properly.
9. At what temperature to vaporize tobacco?
During vaporisation, the tobacco leaves are heated at a temperature of around 200 °C. It is necessary to set the temperature on the machine to a maximum of 180-200 °C, and less than this, 120-150 °C, is sufficient in the beginning. Pipe tobacco has a thicker consistency and can be inhaled at 210 °C.
Temperature plays a vital role in the effect and taste of steam. Higher temperature produces thicker steam. The majority of today's vaporizers allow for temperature adjustment, and this gives users the ability to try and discover the ideal temperature.
10. What is the best vaporizer for vaporizing tobacco?
For vaping tobacco, it is advisable to use devices which are designed for vaping tobacco or dry herbs and which operate on the principle of conduction heating.
Suitable for vape pens, portable vaporizers and desktop vaporizers. The choice of vaporizer depends on the user's preference, with both portable vaporizers and vape pens being small devices that fit easily into a pocket, purse or backpack.
In brick-and-mortar stores and e-shops, you can choose from a wide range of vaporizers, from portable to desktop devices, including all accessories such as batteries, strainers, mouthpieces, bubblers, material storage containers, products for cleaning vapes and more.
The Arizer Solo II Max vaporizer, Arizer Solo 2 vaporizer, Firefly 2+ Vaporizer or Flowermate Aura vaporizer pen are suitable for dry herbs and tobacco.
11. What is produced when tobacco is heated in a vaporizer?
Once the vaporizer is switched on and the heating element starts to heat up to the desired temperature, the chemical components are gradually released from the tobacco leaves and a vapour (aerosol) containing nicotine is formed.
What is produced when dried tobacco is heated in a vaporizer?
- Alkaloids - in addition to nicotine, other alkaloids such as nornicotine and anatabine are released
- Phenols - aromatic compounds that contribute to the aroma and flavour of tobacco
- Terpenes (pinene and limonene) - organic aromatic compounds that occur naturally in many plants
- Carbohydrates (glucose and fructose)
- Organic acids (malic and citric acid)
- Aldehydes - can be formed during the thermal decomposition of organic substances
- Ketones, such as acetone, which can be formed during thermal decomposition
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Volatile organic compounds - small molecules that evaporate easily at room temperature
Eventually, the colour of the tobacco will change (a darker shade of brown), the leaves will become dry and brittle, the flavour and aroma will change and there will be chemical changes in the molecular structure of the tobacco.
Author: HotHouse Cucumber
Photo: Shutterstock
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