Vaping and nicotine pouches are 99.75% less risky than cigarettes.

OSF Preprints

Murkett, R et al., ‘Nicotine Products Relative Risk Assessment: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,’

Key Points:

• Vaping, nicotine pouches and nicotine replacement therapies are 99.75% less risky than cigarettes.
• The study performed a systematic review of 320 studies to develop a relative risk hierarchy for nicotine-containing products. 
• Products were scored from 0 to 100 (low to high risk) based on their toxin emissions and disease risk.
• Key findings:
  • Cigarettes carried a score of 100 and are the most risky way to use nicotine.
  • Vapes, tobacco-free nicotine pouches and nicotine inhalers scored less than 0.25 on the scale and are the least risky way to use nicotine.
  • The risk of using vapes and nicotine pouches is only marginally higher than non-nicotine users, which score 0 on the scale. 
  • Heat-not-burn products have a score of between 3 and 3.5.

READ THE FULL STUDY