No evidence of danger to public from passive vaping, says expert

Vapers should not stand with smokers because it could entice them into smoking, but there is no danger to the public from passive vaping, an expert has claimed.

Whether or not to vape in close proximity to others is a “courtesy issue”, but there is no evidence it poses health risks to those nearby, according to Professor John Britton.

The consultant in respiratory medicine at Nottingham University said about vaping: “It’s a courtesy issue, and if you send the vapers out to smoke or to vape with the smokers you are putting them directly into contact with the drug they are trying to quit.”

Prof Britton was speaking at a Science Media Centre briefing with Ann Mcneill, professor of tobacco addiction, National Addiction Centre at King’s College London and Alan Boobis, emeritus professor of toxicology at Imperial College London.

He said guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) does not recommend smoking shelters because they can legitimise the activity and be expensive.

The panel did not say what, if any, spaces should be available for smokers and vapers, only that employers should be encouraging their workforce not to smoke.

Public Health England (PHE) has said that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking.

In April Martin Mckee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said there are enough grounds for “serious concerns” around vaping, although he added: “We haven’t had e-cigarettes for long enough to know the true effects.”