Public Health England video shows how much smoking cigarettes harms your body compared to vaping An experiment by the government body has compared the physical effects of both with graphic results

The government has released a video to try and encourage smokers to turn to vaping to help them quit.

Public Health England (PHE) has released footage from an experiment to show the devastating harm caused by smoking, which has been released online as part of its Health Harms campaign.

At least half a million smokers are expected to try to kick the habit this January but research shows that close to half (44%) of smokers either believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or do not know that it poses much lower risks to health.

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The film features health experts Dr Lion Shahab and Dr Rosemary Leonard carrying out an experiment to visually demonstrate the high levels of cancer-causing chemicals and tar inhaled by an average smoker over a month compared with not smoking or using an e-cigarette.

Our new short film shows how the toxic chemicals and tar inhaled by an average smoker in just one month compare with not smoking, or using an e-cigarette. #HealthHarms #Smokefree pic.twitter.com/8pV3c6UT8g — Public Health England (@PHE_uk) December 28, 2018

Vape your habit away

The experiment mimics the effects of inhaling tobacco smoke, e-cigarette vape and normal air into the lungs, with the lungs represented by three bell jars filled with cotton wool.

Each bell jar is attached to a diaphragm pump providing a continual and equal draw of air through each bell jar – one set up to “smoke” tobacco cigarettes, another to “vape” e-cigarettes and the third used as the control with only air drawn through it.

By the end of the experiment, the cotton wool in the tobacco bell jar is brown, the inside of the bell jar is brown and the tube leading to the air pump is thick with tar.

In comparison, the cotton wool in the e-cigarette bell jar remains practically unchanged, with some water vapour on it and very slight discolouration from the colouring in the e-liquid.

PHE director of health improvement Professor John Newton said: “It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette are being put off due to false fears about safety.

“We need to reassure smokers that switching to an e-cigarette would be much less harmful than smoking.

“This demonstration highlights the devastating harms caused by every cigarette and helps people see that vaping is likely to pose only a fraction of the risk.

“We want to encourage more smokers to try and quit completely with the help of an e-cigarette, or by using other nicotine replacement such as patches or gum, as this will significantly improve their chances of success.”

Dr Shahab, a leading smoking cessation academic and associate professor in health psychology at University College London, said: “The false belief that vaping is as harmful as smoking could be preventing thousands of smokers from switching to e-cigarettes to help them quit.

Nicotine replacements

“I hope this illustrative experiment helps people see the huge damage caused by smoking that could be avoided by switching to an e-cigarette.

“Using e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement such as patches or gum will boost your chances of quitting successfully.”

Public Health Minister Steve Brine said: “Tough Government action has driven down smoking rates to a record low, but it remains our biggest preventable killer.

“The evidence is clear that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking and they are the most popular quitting method in England. When paired with local stop-smoking services, they have some of the highest success rates.”

Additional reporting by Press Association