While vaping is not risk free, it is less harmful than tobacco Our World in Data Do electronic cigarettes create thirdhand chemical residue? Thirdhand Smoke Resource Center When someone vapes around others they expose them to 'second hand aerosol'. But what happens to that aerosol then? Does it disappear or is it like cigarette smoke and stays around, sticking to Just How Harmful Is Vaping? More Evidence Is Emerging. The New York Times Second hand e cigarette vapour increases risk of poor respiratory health, study finds Nursing in Practice