A viral video has shocked millions after YouTuber Chris Notap demonstrated, in stomach-turning detail, the difference between what cigarettes and vapes leave behind inside a pair of makeshift “lungs”.
The simple but brutally visual experiment has already prompted many smokers to say they’re quitting immediately.
Inside the “lung” experiment
Chris Notap is a YouTuber known for his DIY-style experiments and visual product tests, rather than a scientist, but his clear demonstrations regularly attract huge audiences. This experiment was aimed at adult smokers looking to quit, rather than encouraging new users to take up vaping.
Notap built a clear glass dome packed with cotton balls to mimic lung tissue, then connected an inhaling machine that “smokes” both cigarettes and a vape into separate chambers. He aimed to test the effects of smoking for one month, but the results emerged almost instantly.
Across three days – the time it took to work through “all of the necessary cigs and vape juice” – the cigarette chamber turned brown with sticky, tar-like residue. The vape chamber produced only a lingering white cloud.
Tar versus condensation
When Notap dismantled the device, the difference was stark. Cotton from the cigarette side was stained brown and left a thick smear on kitchen paper. The vape side was clear, marked only by light condensation.
The exhalation tubing told the same story. The smoker’s tube was “brown”, holding “a decent amount of tar”, while the vaper’s was “clear, but it showed minor discolouration from the smoking.”
Notap’s verdict was that after running the experiment, “there’s only one thing that should be going in your lungs, and that’s air”.
Public-health bodies echo the findings
Cancer Research UK notes that “e-cigarettes don’t contain cancer-causing tobacco”, though vaping may still have health impacts. The NHS takes a similar line, stating: “While vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, it is unlikely to be totally harmless. The healthiest option is not to smoke or vape. So, if you are vaping to quit smoking, you should aim to eventually stop vaping too.”
Notap also stresses that vaping should be a quitting aid and “it’s not for kids to try”.
Smokers vow to quit
Viewers were quick to respond with pledges to dump cigarettes. One wrote: “I’m 39 years old and have smoked since I was 14.. Sir you just scared some sense into me. Thank you!” Another added: “I’ve smoked way to long. Recently I’ve been cutting back and want to stop smoking. Now I WILL stop!! Now!!”
And one could only imagine the aftermath: “Imagine the smell when he takes the lids off..”
A striking win for harm reduction
Notap’s experiment is already being cited as one of the most powerful visual demonstrations of why switching from cigarettes to vaping can dramatically reduce harm – and for some viewers, it worked instantly.
