VAPING isn't as bad for you as you think, scientists say.

The misconception that vaping is as harmful as tobacco smoking is common, with four out of ten people mistaking them for being equally as bad.

3 Vaping is known to be less harmful than smoking cigarettes Credit: Getty - Contributor

And that belief is particularly pronounced in smokers and ex-smokers, a study funded by Cancer Research UK has found.

"Tobacco cigarettes kill over half of those who smoke long-term, yet very few people know that nicotine is not the direct cause of smoking-related death and disease," said lead researcher Dr Leonie Brose.

"We found those people who think nicotine is to blame for harms from smoking are more likely to think e-cigarettes and NRT (nicotine replacement therapy) are just as bad as smoking."

Only 57.3 per cent of the 1,720 UK smokers and UK smokers correctly said that vaping was less harmful than smoking, while 21.8 per cent said it was equally as harmful.

3 But current and former smokers seem to think both habits are equally as dangerous Credit: Alamy

In fact, researchers from King's College London found that knowledge about smoking and vaping was actually dropping; more people seem to think that vaping is equally or worse for you than smoking today than they did six years ago.

Knowledge about nicotine was particularly poor, with nearly nine out of ten misattributing a greater portion of the risk in smoking to nicotine, and nearly four out of ten wrongly believing nicotine is what causes cancer from smoking.

Smokers who have never vaped were more likely to have misperceptions about nicotine and the relative harm of e-cigarettes and NRT compared with tobacco cigarettes.

On the other hand, smokers who had tried vaping or were regular vapers were more likely to say that a very small portion of the health risk in cigarettes comes from nicotine.

3 Vaping isn't safe but it's less harmful than smoking and has been credited with helping people quit Credit: Getty - Contributor

Dr Brose said: "It is possible that smokers may not try e-cigarettes or NRT due to inaccurate beliefs about nicotine and vaping.

"A lot of public discussion and media reporting focuses on harms from vaping, but we rarely see any reports on how deadly smoking is - 1500 people die from smoking-related illness every week in England alone.

"Correcting misperceptions around nicotine may help smokers move towards less harmful nicotine delivery methods."

Previous research by the same team found that smokers who thought vaping was less harmful than smoking were more likely to try e-cigarettes.

The authors are planning a study to see if they can persuade smokers to switch to vaping if equipped with better knowledge about nicotine, smoking and vaping.

Professor Linda Bauld, Cancer Research UK's prevention expert, said: "While nicotine is addictive, it's the cocktail of 5000 different chemicals released during smoking that damages our DNA and can cause cancer.

"Nicotine products have been proven to help smokers quit and they're most effective when combined with behavioural support from Stop Smoking Services.

"It's vital that smokers aiming to quit have accurate information to help them find the best way to stop."

Simple experiment has been conducted which compares the effects of smoking and e-cigarettes over a month

Responding to the new study, Martin Dockrell, Tobacco Control Lead at Public Health England, said: "There is still work to do to reassure smokers that vaping, while not risk-free, is much less harmful than smoking.

"If you smoke, switching to an e-cigarette could save your life."

Prof Peter Hajek, Director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said:

“This is an important study with serious implications for public health. Vaping poses only a small fraction of risks of smoking, but over the past few years, we have seen a barrage of misinformation about e-cigarettes that has been persuading smokers that vaping is dangerous and that they should stick to smoking.

"Some ‘fake news’ are of little importance, but this study shows that fake news on the dangers of e-cigarettes did penetrate the public consciousness and are likely to be harming public health.

"Health organisations and responsible media now face an urgent task to correct this misinformation.”

MORE ON SMOKING BE AWARE New study claims vaping 'could increase the risk of breast cancer' Exclusive SMOKED OUT Canal worker fired for cig in firm's van after anti-smoking 'spy' reported him VAPE ALERT Teen who nearly died from vaping left with lungs of 80-year-old life-long smoker EARLY SIGNS The 6 deadliest cancers in the UK - and the signs you should never ignore Warning UP IN FLAMES Mum accidentally set her face on fire lighting a cigarette VAPE PERIL Vaping 'doubles risk of teens smoking real cigs & is linked to heart problems' NO-PUFF EAT ZONES Separate pubs & restaurants outdoor non-smoking areas must be set up HOLY SMOKE! Smokers will NOT be banned from lighting up outside pubs and restaurants STUB IT OUT Smoking OUTSIDE pubs and restaurants could be banned as Covid lockdown eases UP IN SMOKE Smokers puffed 20million fewer fags a month 'after plain packets and tax hike'

A report by PHE published in 2015 found that e-cigs were so much less harmful than smoking, that they could pave the way for the real "game changer" in regards to helping prisons go smoke-free.

A project to get prisons in England to implement smoke-free policies is now fully underway, with vaping playing a critical role.

Prior to the project starting, around 50,000 prisoners were buying tobacco.

Today, prison canteens sell over 65,000 vaping protects to 33,000 prisoners - suggesting a significant reduction in harm.

According to Public Health Matters, 14.9 per cent of adults in England smoke tobacco. In prison, 80 per cent of people smoke.

If vaping really is 95 per cent safer, that could see a massive reduction in the 78,000 smoke-related deaths we see in England every year.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours