How many puffs on an Vapes equal one traditional cigarette?

ArtFlex

How many puffs on an Vpaes equal one traditional cigarette? I have no smoking history, and I just received my vape.

Collin

Vapes and cigarettes are really hard to compare. There isn’t a definitive answer to how many puffs on a vape equal one cigarette.

First, vapes and cigarettes contain different ingredients. Cigarettes produce nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide through combustion, while vapes generate nicotine vapor through the heating of liquid. The inhaled components are not the same.

Second, vapes also have wattage ratings; the higher the wattage and current, the more vapor produced, making it impossible to determine the amount of vapor inhaled.

Third, simply put, vape vaporizers heat e-liquid to produce vapor, while cigarettes rely on combustion, leading to different methods of use.

Considering all of the above, is there a way to equate the number of puffs from vapes to traditional cigarettes? I believe there isn’t a comparable answer; vapes are merely a substitute for cigarettes.

If you’re trying to calculate how many puffs from a vape equal one cigarette to assess potential health risks, or to find a balance between vapes and cigarettes, I would advise against smoking altogether.

I smoked cigarettes for over ten years and have now quit, using vapes as a substitute—nothing more.

Elder

No matter how many puffs you take, it doesn't count. The most commonly found closed-system vapes on the market contain ingredients like nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerin, and flavoring. They do not contain tobacco and are fundamentally different from traditional cigarettes. The most harmful aspect of traditional cigarettes is the tobacco, as it produces tar, carbon monoxide, and a series of toxic substances, including over 70 carcinogens, such as nitrosamines, which are generated when tobacco burns. When the CDC studies secondhand smoke, they can detect nitrosamines in the urine of people who smoke traditional cigarettes, highlighting its potency. Therefore, no matter how many puffs you take from a vape, you are not inhaling “tobacco” and are avoiding tar, thus steering clear of the most harmful part of traditional cigarettes.

(Of course, if you are using something cheap from the corner store, or a big cloud device, or if you’re refilling it improperly, that’s another matter. Buying IQOS is also a different story, as it heats rather than burns tobacco; it contains tobacco, just not in a lit form, and is inhaled through electronic heating.)

Now, let’s discuss the composition of vape cartridges. Among the four main components, propylene glycol and glycerin are both food-grade, and we don’t need to mention the flavoring; we only need to focus on one thing—nicotine. There’s a famous saying in the smoking community: people smoke for nicotine but die from tar.