When it comes to sperm, is vaping safer than smoking?
Sperm producers - if you’re trying to conceive now, or think you want to be a parent one day, there is compelling evidence that quitting vaping, is going to make this an easier process.
The use of e-cigarettes is on the rise here in Australia. They’ve been marketed as a safer alternative to conventional cigarettes and in clinic we’ve certainly seen patients, (or partners of patients) who have been encouraged to use vaping as a healthier alternative to smoking.
How does vaping impact sperm?
Nicotine and sperm
It’s widely documented that smokers have lower sperm count, morphology and motility than their non-smoking peers. Smoking has a dose dependent effect - the more exposure to nicotine, the bigger the impact. One cigarette will contain .91 to .3mg, the amount of nicotine in an e-cigarette however varies widely from brand to brand.
So what if you opt for nicotine free?
Vape cartridges and your swimmers
It’s not as simple as just opting for low nicotine, or nicotine free. The cartridges themselves are damaging to sperm - even those that don’t contain any nicotine. The e-liquid in vape cartridges contain substances that are generally considered to be nontoxic - as long as they are taken orally. The problem is that once they are heated they release a number of harmful compounds, including
formaldehyde
acetaldehyde
acetone
benzaldehyde
the BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes)
So how do these compounds impact sperm?
Vaping and sperm - the research
Given the relative newness of vaping, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the amount of research in this space is dramatically smaller than that of smoking, but what we do have is certainly strongly indicative of sperm being vulnerable to vaping.
One of the earliest studies was mouse based research in 2016. This research found that regardless of whether or not cartridges contained nicotine, vaping caused oxidative stress and resulted in poorer sperm viability and lower sperm count.
More recently, research has looked at the impact of vaping on young men. In 2020, researchers looked at a cohort of the general public averaging just 19 years old. Compared to non-users, those men who were using vapes daily had a significantly lower total sperm count - on average 91 million to the non users at 147 million.
The takeaway
Sure, vaping might be an alternative to cigarettes but it’s by no means a better alternative. The kindest thing you can do for your sperm is to cut down, wean off, and aim to quit entirely at least three months before you start trying to conceive. It takes about 88 days for the process of spermatogenesis to take place - what you do in those days can have significant impact. What an opportunity.
Love your sperm
Want to know what else you can do to care for your sperm? Read more about cigarettes and sperm here, the impact of alcohol on sperm here and 4 simple sperm-health hacks here
