How highly addictive vapes are putting your child at risk – everything you must know
CAUGHT in a cloud of vapour that smells of strawberries, you might think, “Well, at least it’s not cigarette smoke.”
But concerns are rising about the risks of vape products, especially the huge surge in young people using them.
Last week, The Sun exclusively revealed that Public Health Minister Neil O’Brien will launch a call for evidence before restricting access to highly addictive fruit-flavoured ones for under-18s.
Disposable vapes can’t be recharged or refilled, often come in pen-form and tend to be cheaper, from around £4, compared to rechargeable vapes that can be refilled with e-liquids.
Kid-friendly packaging and sweetie-like flavours, from Apple Peach and Cotton Candy Ice to Strawberry Kiwi, could be banned, in a change that cannot come soon enough for parents, teachers and medical professionals.
GP Dr Rachel Ward, from Woodland Medical Centre in Didcot, Oxon, says: “The development of such flavours is difficult to defend.
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“The concern with ones that appeal to young people is that even if they start using vapes with no nicotine, they may move on to nicotine-containing products and their chance of taking up smoking increases.”
Indeed, researchers at the University of California San Diego found teenagers who vape are three times more likely to become regular smokers — a habit that kills around 76,000 people in the UK every year.
TOO EASY: It’s illegal for anyone under 18 in the UK to buy or be sold vaping products, but it’s alarmingly easy for young teens to get hold of them.
Around 4.3million of us use e-cigarettes, often to help quit smoking, but children as young as six have tried vapes.
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Pressure group Action On Smoking & Health (ASH) says 15.8 per cent of 11 to 17-year-olds vaped in 2022, compared to 11.2 per cent the year before, and campaigner Sheila Duffy, said: “We’ve heard alarming evidence of primary-aged children having vapes.”
Teachers at Copthall School in Mill Hill, North London have called for vape sensors in toilets and police visits to deter kids.
Some major supermarkets have already removed Elfbar vapes from shelves amid concerns the Chinese-made products have illegal levels of nicotine in them.
In February, ITV reported Watermelon-flavoured Elfbar 600s had at least 50 per cent more than the legal limit for nicotine e-liquid.
PLASTIC PROBLEM: Last year 52.8 per cent of vapers used cheap throwaway products, up from 7.8 per cent in 2021.
Almost 170million pen-sized vapes, such as Elfbar, Geek Bar, Aroma King and Elux, are now imported annually, costing as little as £4, and two are thrown away every second.
Pets and wild animals may eat empty vapes containing poisonous nicotine and lithium, and RSPCA officer Evie Button said: “Litter is one of the biggest hazards wildlife faces.
“Discarded vapes add to the risk.”
THE RISKS: Dr Ward said: “Many vapes contain nicotine which is highly addictive and often leads to symptoms such as restlessness, stress, irritability and poor concentration when nicotine levels start to fall.
“Nicotine addiction can also be associated with mental health problems such as depression.
“There is evidence that nicotine also affects the developing brain in adolescents.”
HEART TROUBLE: Long-term use can cause worrying changes to the heart and blood vessels, impairing function and increasing cardiovascular disease risk.
The American Heart Association says that these effects may build over time, while researchers at the University of Wisconsin found regular vapers performed worse on exercise stress testing, which assesses the heart’s ability.
People who vape and smoke may be at even greater risk.
DNA DANGER: Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine in the US found that cells from the mouths of vapers and smokers had more than double the amount of DNA damage, associated with increased cancer risk, than non-users.
Damage was also higher in vapers who used sweet and mint-flavoured vapes.
VIRUS ALERT: A study from the University of California found vaping leaves people at higher risk of developing severe Covid symptoms.
Young, healthy users who caught Covid had more lung inflammation, which could trigger cardiovascular complications.
TAKE A BREATH: Vapers have a 19 per cent higher risk of asthma, according to researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
And the University of Pennsylvania found e-cigarette users have more lung inflammation than non-smokers and smokers.
AND MORE: Vapers have reportedly blamed their vapes for inducing blurred vision, exhaustion and constipation.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has received reported side-effects including hearing problems, coughing, hiccups, sore throats, croaky voice and even vertigo.
US scientists discovered vapers were at a higher risk of cavities, and many dermatologists claim the habit can damage skin and contribute to premature ageing.
‘Less harmful than smoking’
VAPES are recommended as a safer alternative to cigarettes for existing smokers, both by the NHS and ASH.
GP Dr Ward says: “E-cigarettes were developed to help people to stop smoking and not as something new for non-smokers.
“We know that they are less harmful than cigarettes but they still contain multiple chemicals and toxins that might cause long-term harm.”
Gillian Golden, chief executive of the Independent British Vape Trade Association says: “Vape products are intended to offer a less harmful alternative for adults that would otherwise be smoking and are well-known to have been instrumental in driving down UK smoking rates for more than ten years.”
The NHS says that a 2021 review found that people who had face-to-face expert support and used vapes, are up to twice as likely to stop puffing on tobacco than those who switch to nicotine patches or gum.
According to research from the British Heart Foundation, smokers who swapped their cigarettes for vapes had improved blood vessel health.
Plus scientists at the University of Washington found smokers-turned-vapers reported better physical health, did more exercise and were more socially active.
The study’s co-author Marina Epstein said: “Despite the obvious risks to non-smokers, e-cigarettes have the potential to play a health-promoting role in the lives of smokers.”
‘Fruit flavours are gateway’
MUM-of-two Sarah from Plymouth, thought something was up when she smelt sweet fragrances in her 14-year-old daughter’s room.
Checking Lizzie’s school bag, she found a vape.
She told Clare O’Reilly: “I was in complete shock. I don’t smoke, neither does her dad.”
Lizzie admitted to being sucked in by flavours like popcorn, doughnut and marshmallow, and bright packaging that doesn’t have “gross pictures” on like cigarettes.
Sarah says: “It’s great these flavours are set to be banned, but for a lot of kids and young people it’s too little too late.
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“The fruit flavours are a gateway taste, they smell like lip balm or sweets, so kids start using them before moving on to different flavours.
“They shouldn’t have existed in the first place. It might help younger generations not start vaping though, which is good.”
WHAT’S IN THEM?
- CIGARETTES: Mainly tobacco (which contains addictive nicotine). When smoked, emit carbon monoxide and tar and toxic chemicals, including benzene, arsenic and formaldehyde.
- VAPES: Usually addictive nicotine salt e-liquid, with flavourings and additives including vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol.