Does CBD Vape Affect Lungs?

One of the biggest concerns about vaping is lung health. Of course, CBD is multiple times safer than smoking. However, this does not mean that it is entirely safe. On the other hand, it is not significantly harmful to the lungs. It appears that lung injuries occur due to contaminants in CBD vapes and not due to CBD. So, does CBD vaping affect the lungs? Yes, it affects, but only if abused or if someone uses poor-quality vapes or e-liquids.

It appears that abusing CBD vape pens may cause some lung distress or inflammation. However, it does not cause any severe issues. Studies have now shown beyond doubt that all the cases of lung injury due to vaping have been due to some toxins in vaping juices.

Some of the early reports of severe lung issues associated with vaping were reported from the US. Some people even experienced severe lung damage. Health experts started calling this condition E-cigarette or Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI).[1]

However, when researching deeper into the data, they found that most of these lung disease cases were not due to vaping but rather to vitamin E acetate. Now, it is proven beyond doubt that these lung issues are not due to CBD.[1]

Similarly, a Harvard Medical School article says lung injury may occur due to other contaminations. Some poor-quality CBD vape juices may contain heavy metals.[2]

In recent years, researchers have also identified that some flavours and flavour-enhancing substances may also cause lung damage. Thus, studies show that a flavour called diacetyl, often added to popcorns, may cause lung injury called “popcorn lung”.[2]

Again, that may sound alarming. However, CBD disposable vape pens or juices sold these days do not contain these substances. 

Of course, vaping still causes lung problems, but most of these are not severe. For example, CBD vapes may cause mild lung inflammation in some individuals. However, such inflammation does not occur in all people. It only happens in individuals sensitive to CBD.

Additionally, vaping at high temperatures appears to result in burning vape oils, which is not good for the lungs. Fortunately, unlike other vapes, like nicotine vapes, CBD vapes work at lower temperatures, providing rich flavour, and do not tend to burn oils. Hence, CBD vapes are pretty safe for most people.

Going through numerous studies and data, we would say that the risk of any severe lung injury due to CBD vaping is extremely low. It appears that reports of lung injury due to vaping have been significantly exaggerated. Thus, for example, one of the scientific reports published in 2022 that analysed data from 13 nations could identify just 17 cases of severe lung injury. Those are very small numbers, considering millions of people vape globally.[3]

Similarly, just take the example of Europe. By 2020, just two moderately severe cases of lung injury due to vaping were reported from the whole of Europe.[4] Yes, these numbers are miniscule. The trend is the same in the UK, with a handful of lung injury cases ever reported in the nation due to vaping.

Note that all the above reports included all kinds of vaping and are not just for CBD vaping. It means that among them, only a few of those lung injury cases were due to CBD vapes. So, it would be correct to say that to date, so few cases of lung injury due to CBD vaping have been reported in the EU and UK that these cases can be counted on fingers.

To conclude, CBD vape adversely affects the lungs, but it is not likely to cause any severe lung injury. Most cases of severe lung injury are due to contaminants and not due to CBD. Hence, the data suggests that CBD vaping is very safe if done responsibly.

1. Association AL. E-cigarette or Vaping Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) [Internet]. [cited 2023 Oct 11]. Available from: https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/evali.
2. MD RHS. Can vaping damage your lungs? What we do (and don’t) know [Internet]. Harvard Health. 2019 [cited 2023 Oct 13]. Available from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-vaping-damage-your-lungs-what-we-do-and-dont-know-2019090417734.
3. Sund LJ, Dargan PI, Archer JRH, et al. E-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI): a review of international case reports from outside the United States of America. Clinical Toxicology. 2023;61:91–97.
4. Marlière C, Greef JD, Gohy S, et al. Fatal e-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury (EVALI): a first case report in Europe. European Respiratory Journal [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2023 Oct 13];56. Available from: https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/1/2000077.