Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Public Health
Publication Date
9-21-2021
ISSN
1741-3842
Page Number
202
Keywords
E-cigarettes, public health, secondhand risks, pregnancy
Disciplines
Health Law and Policy | Law
Abstract
Background
Public Health England has concluded that e-cigarettes are much safer than cigarettes for the user and for secondhand exposures, but it has not reached a definitive conclusion regarding pregnancy risks. How people perceive the risks to others is less well understood.
Methods
This study uses an online UK sample of 1041 adults to examine perceived e-cigarette risks to others and during pregnancy. The survey examines relative risk beliefs of e-cigarettes compared to cigarettes and the percentage reduction in harm provided by e-cigarettes.
Results
A majority of the sample believes that secondhand exposure to e-cigarette vapors poses less risk than secondhand smoke from cigarettes, but almost two-fifths of the sample equate the secondhand risks from e-cigarettes to those from cigarettes. There is somewhat greater perception of e-cigarette risks during pregnancy compared to beliefs regarding secondhand risks of vaping. About two-fifths of the population believe that e-cigarettes are less risky than cigarettes during pregnancy. Respondents believe that e-cigarettes reduce the harm to others by 39% and the harm to babies by 36%.
Conclusion
There is a general sense that e-cigarettes pose less risk than cigarettes, but there is a need for further risk communication regarding comparative e-cigarette risks.
Recommended Citation
W. Kip Viscusi,
The Perceived Risks of E-Cigarettes to Others and During Pregnancy, 45 Journal of Public Health. 202
(2021)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1402