Ever been mid vape session and wondered- how long does this vapour actually stay in the air? If so, you've come to the right place! Read on to learn more about how your vapes vapour interacts with the air around you, from how long it lingers to whether second-hand vape is a risk you need to consider.

Any vapour exhaled when vaping usually dissipates and evaporates within 10-30 seconds. However, this process may be slowed due to a number of factors such as:

• Ventilation: vape vapour sticks around for longer in poorly ventilated rooms. To speed up the dissipation process you can open doors and windows and turn a fan on.

• E-liquid ratio: High VG e-liquids produce thicker, more dense vapour than 50-50 balanced VG/PG e-liquids do.

• Device power: Sub-ohm vapes produce thicker, denser clouds which take longer to disperse.

In contrast, cigarette smoke lingers for several hours after first being released into the atmosphere, even in well ventilated spaces. Cigarettes should always be smoked outdoors, as toxic residue sticks to surfaces and releases chemicals into the air for months after(this is termed third-hand smoke).

Due to this, cigarette smoke dissipates a lot more slowly than vape vapour putting other people at risk of second-hand smoke, which can be just as, if not more harmful than smoking.

Second-hand smoke contains around 70 carcinogenic chemicals, as well as 7000 dangerous chemicals. Repeated exposure to second-hand smoke raises the risk of a range of health conditions such as strokes, coronary heart disease, lung cancer, and asthma. 

Although second-hand vape is real and not without its own risks, second-hand smoke is a lot more dangerous to inhale. For example, research has suggested children exposed to indoor vaping absorb less than one-seventh of the nicotine than those exposed to indoor cigarette smoke. This is largely due to the fact vape vapour dissipates so quickly and doesn't stick to surfaces in the same way as smoke.

Despite second-hand vape being less problematic, you should still avoid vaping indoors where possible, particularly around children or medically vulnerable people. This is because the chemicals in vapes (heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and nicotine) can still harm sensitive airways and cause health issues. Additionally, chemicals from vapour can still cling to surfaces, and there hasn't yet been enough research to establish whether this can cause negative health outcomes in the long term.

Although vape vapour usually dissipates within 30 seconds, it is best to vape outdoors to limit repeated second and third hand exposure to the chemicals in your e-liquid, even when you aren't vaping.