What Does Vaping Do to Your Lungs? Johns Hopkins Medicine Vaping and Lung Health Pulmonary Associates of Richmond Smoking vs. Vaping: The Same Damage, Just Marketed Better! If your lungs could talk, they would tell you the harsh truth: Smoking and vaping both burn and damage your lungs, just differently. Vaping delivers heated chemicals directly into the lungs. Unlike air, vape aerosols contain fine particles, nicotine, heavy metals, and flavoring compounds that were never designed to be inhaled. Once inside the chest,