Vaping is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking but is not risk-free, according to new research from Public Health England.
The statistics come alongside a shocking new film which demonstrates the devastating effects of smoking on lungs.
The footage shows how the toxic chemicals and tar inhaled by an average smoker in just one month compares with not smoking or using an e-cigarette.
Public Health England released it in a bid to show how harm can be avoided by switching to vaping or using another type of aid to quit.
It is part of PHE's Health Harms campaign, which encourages smokers to try to quit this January by demonstrating the damage that every single cigarette can do.
Research shows that 44 per cent of smokers either wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or do not know that it poses much lower risks to health.
At least half a million smokers are expected to try and quit this January.
The film features health experts Dr Lion Shahab and Dr Rosemary Leonard carrying out an experiment to visually demonstrate the high levels of cancer-causing chemicals and tar inhaled by an average smoker over a month compared with not smoking or using an e-cigarette.
The experiment mimics the effects of inhaling tobacco smoke, e-cigarette vape and normal air into the lungs, with the lungs represented by three bell jars filled with cotton wool.
By the end of the experiment, the cotton wool in the tobacco bell jar is brown, the inside of the bell jar is brown and the tube leading to the air pump is thick with tar.
In comparison, the cotton wool in the e-cigarette bell jar remains practically unchanged, with some water vapour on it and very slight discolouration from the colouring in the e-liquid.
PHE director of health improvement Professor John Newton said the experiment visually illustrates the stark contrast between the impacts of smoking and vaping.
He said: "It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e-cigarette are being put off due to false fears about safety.
"We need to reassure smokers that switching to an e-cigarette would be much less harmful than smoking.
"This demonstration highlights the devastating harms caused by every cigarette and helps people see that vaping is likely to pose only a fraction of the risk.
"We want to encourage more smokers to try and quit completely with the help of an e-cigarette, or by using other nicotine replacement such as patches or gum, as this will significantly improve their chances of success.”
Smoking increases the risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions, including cancer and heart disease, and doubles the risk of dying from a stroke.
Of the 6.1 million smokers in England, six in 10 want to quit but many try to give up using willpower alone - or by going cold turkey - despite this being the least effective method.
Public Health Minister Steve Brine said: "Tough Government action has driven down smoking rates to a record low, but it remains our biggest preventable killer.
"The evidence is clear that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking and they are the most popular quitting method in England. When paired with local stop-smoking services, they have some of the highest success rates."
