There’s no denying the appeal of a good night’s rest. Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that over a third of all Americans don’t get enough sleep.

One way that many in the U.S. attempt to get better sleep is by taking a hormone called melatonin. Recently, melatonin has become widely available in a variety of forms, and some are choosing to vape melatonin as a sleep aid.

What Is Melatonin?

To determine if it’s safe to vape melatonin, we first need to understand what melatonin is.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in the human brain. It is a part of how our bodies regulate their circadian rhythms and is produced in response to darkness. This means that spending too much time in a well-lit environment, especially at night, can disrupt the production of this hormone and negatively impact a person’s ability to sleep.

Research into the roles of melatonin in the body suggests that it does more than just help us sleep, but these effects aren’t well understood. This lack of understanding of the roles of this hormone makes it even riskier to vape melatonin.

In all likelihood, people vape melatonin for the same reasons that they take melatonin supplements or gummies. According to the NIH, these alternative medicines are used to treat jet lag, sleep disorders in children, delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, and anxiety surrounding surgeries.

NIH further reports that there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that this hormone helps people sleep, whether you vape melatonin or chew a melatonin gummy.

Is It Safe to Vape Melatonin?

There are several reasons to believe that it isn’t safe to vape melatonin. According to NIH, just taking melatonin at all comes with a variety of health risks: negative interactions with other medicines, allergic reactions, risks for pregnant women, lingering effects for older people, and further risks for those with dementia.

There are also risks associated with a lack of regulation of these products. When you vape melatonin, there’s no guarantee that what you’re vaping is what you think it is.

The intake method poses even more risks for those who vape melatonin. As neurologist Dr. Rizwan Bashir told Popsugar, vaping allows the melatonin to instantly access your lungs and bloodstream and that vape pens “offer a lot more melatonin than the body is used to.” An overabundance of this hormone in the brain can lead to negative effects on your body’s circadian rhythm.

“Many take a supplement if they are having trouble regulating this hormone in their own body, but research has not been done on consuming this in vapor form,” Dr. Bashir said. “Too much of a good thing can definitely be a bad thing… Is this too much melatonin? There is no research to effectively say yes or no. That should serve as a warning to users.”

Those who vape melatonin are also at risk of e-cigarette or vaping product-use associated lung injury (EVALI). While the CDC reports that the majority of EVALI cases affect those who vape tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Dr. Khushboo Chokshi told Popsugar that the risk exists whether you vape THC, nicotine, melatonin, or anything else. EVALI is a serious lung condition that can be fatal.

“One of the main issues with vaping is that no one knows what is in the vaping liquids or what exactly is causing the acute lung injuries and deaths,” Dr. Chokshi said.

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This article is not legal advice. It is presented 
for informational purposes only.