Preliminary findings link long term vaping to persistent changes in lung function

Further research needed, but cumulative effects may heighten COPD risk, say researchers

Long term vaping in young people may induce persistent changes in lung function, suggest preliminary findings published online in the journal Tobacco Control.

Further research is needed, emphasise the researchers. But the cumulative effects might heighten the risk of life limiting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a hallmark of which is loss of lung function—and specifically, a decline in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1)—-say the researchers.

To explore this further, the researchers analysed the results of lung function tests given to  22 current primarily e-cigarette users aged 21–35 at the start of the study and again an average of 12 months later.

Participants provided information on the frequency of daily vaping and took the lung function tests between 09:00 and 11:00 hours, 12 hours after using any tobacco product.

The tests measured FEV1, which assesses how much air can be blown out of the lungs in one breath in 1 second; forced vital capacity, which assesses the total volume of air that can be forcefully and rapidly exhaled from the lungs after taking a deep breath; and the ratio of the two.

At the second test, the results indicated a significant reduction in FEV1. And after adjusting for vaping frequency and potentially influential factors, such as age, sex, race and height, there was a declining trend in FEV1 as the amount of daily vaping increased, although this wasn’t statistically significant.

For example, vaping 5–9 times a day was associated with a fall of 100 ml in FEV1, vaping 10–29 times a day was associated with a fall of 190 ml, while vaping 30 or more times daily was associated with a 240 ml decline, compared with those vaping 0–4 times a day.

The researchers acknowledge the study’s small sample size; that it relied on only two time points for the assessment of e-cigarettes’ chronic effects on pulmonary function tests; and that it lacked a tobacco-free comparison group.

Nevertheless, the findings prompt them to suggest that their study “provides credible evidence of the effect of prolonged exposure to e-cigarette use on the pulmonary functions of young adults and its dose-response relation.”

They add: “While an accelerated decline in FEV1 requires more lengthy observations and tobacco-free controls, this study provides the first indicator of the potential of prolonged e-cigarette use to have persistent and clinically important cumulative effects on FEV1 and pose a COPD risk.”

10/11/2026

Notes for editors
Short report: Prolonged effect of e-cigarette use on pulmonary function: A Pilot Study
Doi: 10.1136/tc-2025-059746
Journal: Tobacco Control

About the journal
Tobacco Control is one of more than 80 journals published by BMJ Group. https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com

External funding: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Link to Academy of Medical Sciences press release labelling system
http://press.psprings.co.uk/AMSlabels.pdf

Externally peer reviewed? Yes
Evidence type: Observational
Subjects: People