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Every few months, a new study about the effects of smoking e-cigarettes concludes the opposite of whatever came before it. It’s a cycle that started when the popularity for the cigarette alternatives exploded a few years ago and has led to a lot of confusion over whether vaping is bad for your health.

We have, over the decades, mostly come to a consensus on the dangers of smoking combustible cigarettes, a conclusion founded on countless long-term studies. Until now, e-cigarette studies have simply either analyzed the product or investigated the effects on animal and cell models.

A new study funded by Cancer Research UK is the first to explore the effects of e-cigarettes by looking at long-term human body-level exposure. The results are promising.

The study looked at five groups: combustible cigarette users, former smokers who now smoke e-cigs, former smokers on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), and current smokers who also smoke e-cigs or also use NRT.

The study concluded that e-cigarette-only and NRT-only users had significantly lower levels of carcinogens than combustible cigarette-only, smokers of both cigarettes and e-cigs, and smokers of cigarettes who are also NRT users.

After analyzing the urine and saliva of 181 participants, researchers found that levels of NNAL, a chemical linked to cancer, was 97.5 percent lower in ex-smokers who vape compared to continuous smokers.