Disposable vapes are to be banned across Britain within a year in a bid to end the surge in young people getting hooked on the habit, it was announced today.
The devices, which are often colourfully packaged and come in candy-like flavours, are sold in places like sweet shops for ‘pocket money prices’.
Initially touted as a ‘safer’ alternative to tobacco, public health experts have become increasingly concerned that youngsters who have never smoked are using them.
Multiple shocking cases have also emerged of collapsed lungs, fainting or vomiting ominous green liquid among, liked to heavy vaping.
And, disturbingly, there is evidence children as young as four are being hospitalised due to damage caused by vapes.
The devices, which come plastered in a rainbow of packaging in alluring candy-like flavours and pack the shelves of sweet shops are the most popular form of the device among young people due to being available for ‘pocket money prices’
The latest data shows one in four children have tried the devices, while one in 10 use them regularly. Rates rise to as many as one in six among 16-to-17-year-olds.
Disposable vapes were by far the most commonly used form of the device, as many as 70 per cent of children who vape use them.
Unlike refillable ‘pen’ or ‘box’ style vape devices, which retail from about £20, disposables can be purchased for as little as £3.
This, campaigners have said, makes them particularly attractive to younger people.
And like most vapes, they contain nicotine, which is highly addictive.
This, experts warn, has led to some young people vaping heavily — with disastrous consequences.
NHS England has said doctors have seen a 733 per cent surge in children and teenagers being admitted for vaping-related disorders since 2020.
In 2023, 11 were nursery school-age and 12 were aged 10 to 14.
Here MailOnline explains just some of the risks disposable vapes pose to young people.
Lung collapse and increased risk of respiratory disease
Terrifying cases of lung collapse have been reported among children who vape.
The specific causes of these shocking incidents vary but one trigger is a reaction to some of contents of the vapour.
In extreme cases, vaping-induced inflammation has even been linked to holes forming in the lung itself.
Inflammation from vaping usually takes a month to form as nanoparticles from the vapour progressively become embedded in lung tissue.
A shocking MailOnline investigation last year even uncovered vapes resembling sweets and high street stores selling the devices next to chocolate and fruit gummies
Some specific chemicals like cinnamaldehyde, diacetyl and acetylpropionyl added to certain vapes and vape liquid flavours can provoke stronger responses.
This inflammation also increases the risk of a person suffering respiratory infections, such as Covid, experts have warned.
One study found people who vaped for at least six months had high levels of inflammation, mouth wounds and up to a 100-fold increase in oral fungi.
A paper published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, which tracked vapers for three years, found they had a 1.3-times higher risk of developing respiratory disease than people who didn’t use a tobacco product.
Chemicals contained in vapes can also cause oxidative stress, a type of damage to cells.
In a study, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared oxidative stress in the lungs of routine cigarette smokers, vapers and people with no history of long term use of either tobacco or nicotine devices.
Kyla Blight suffered a collapsed lung after vaping the equivalent of 400 cigarettes
The then 16-year-old Ewan Fisher needed an artificial lung to survive and spent 10 weeks in hospital as doctors fought to save his life
Vaping for only 30 minutes caused oxidative stress levels two to four times higher than baseline levels in those with no history of smoking, they found.
Metal components of the devices which heat the liquid containing the nicotine and flavourings — creating the vapour — can also release some toxic metals.
These include arsenic, chromium, nickel and lead, all known carcinogens.
While there were fears this could contribute to the dreaded ‘popcorn lung’ — a dangerous inflammation of the respiratory organs which leads to wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath these have been dismissed.
One young Brit who has experienced a vape related lung emergency was Kyla Blight, 17.
She had to be rushed to hospital after her vaping habit caused a hole to burst in her lung and she ended up needing part of the organ removed.
Medics theorised that Kyla, from Cumbria, has small blister on her lung, called a pulmonary bleb, and her excessive vaping caused this to burst.
Another case is that of Ewan Fisher, who at about 16, had to be rushed to hospital after vomiting a neon green liquid and gasping for breath just four months after taking up vaping.
The Nottingham teen is believed to have suffered an exaggerated immune response to chemicals found in e-cigarette fluid.
Collapsing and potential exposure to illicit drugs
Cases of schoolchildren collapsing from vape use and being exposed to the ‘zombie drug’ Spice, have also emerged.
Glyn Potts headteacher at Newman Catholic College in Oldham also told BBC Radio earlier this year how even one single puff from a vape had been enough to land one of his pupils in hospital.
‘Two-and-a-half-years-ago we had a student who stole a vape off their big brother’s bedside table,’ he said.
‘They travelled on the school bus and in the final few seconds, as the bus was pulling into the school grounds urged by his friends, he took a very large gulp of this vape pen.
‘As he got off the bus, he started to feel unwell and he collapsed.’
The vape in question was later found to have 12-times the level of nicotine than a cigarette.
But Mr Potts said another worrying development was other substances being added to the disposable vapes favoured by children, something he feared would have fatal consequences.
Although initially touted as a way to quite tobacco, research shows many of those now vaping have never smoked. Earlier this year bosses at the World Health Organization (WHO) ruled that vapes cannot be recommended as way to stop smoking as too little is known about the harms and benefits
A study in July backed up these fears with one in six vapes confiscated from school children in England found to be laced with ‘zombie drug’ Spice.
Nicotine addiction and heart problems
Disposable vapes contain nicotine an addictive substance that binds to proteins in the brain in just 11 seconds.
There it triggers the release of hormones dopamine and serotonin — providing a sense of euphoria and calmness.
The body goes on to become accustomed to and to crave this level of high, leading to a powerful impulse to have another hit.
Once this dependency is formed, withholding nicotine can lead to irritation, anger, or sadness, as well as restlessness and trouble concentrating.
Nicotine also raises blood pressure and causes the heart to beat faster.
This process takes a few minutes as the arteries that supply the heart narrow significantly, which can lead to higher blood pressure.
However, studies suggest the effect lasts for days when it comes to vaping.
One found that vaping for just an hour leads to blood vessels taking three days to return to normal function.
Over the long term, experts say this could lead to hardening of the blood vessels, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease like heart attacks.
Last year the American Heart Association said long term vaping resulted in ‘cardiac remodelling’ which could, in turn, lead to heart failure and heart rhythm problems.
While a cigarette typically contains anywhere between 8 to 20mg of nicotine only a fraction is actually absorbed, estimated to be 1 and 2mg.
Vape strength, much like cigarettes, varies but some of the strongest contain 20mg of nicotine per ml.
So, a 2ml vape, the maximum legal capacity in the UK, will contain 40mg of nicotine.
This means a single strong vape can contain the equivalent level of nicotine as smoking two packs of 20 cigarettes.
Cancer risk and what we don’t know
While known risks for children can be alarming enough for many experts it what we don’t about the long-term consequences of vaping in youth that is worrying.
As vapes have only been around for the blink of an eye in health monitoring terms, the consequences of using the devices, especially among people picking up the habit in their youth, and using them for decades, is unknown.
This data simply doesn’t yet exist. As such doctors have expressed fears there could be a wave of lung disease, dental issues and even cancer in the coming decades in people who took up the habit at a young age.
While studies are limited one alarming study, published earlier this year, suggested vaping triggers cell changes which may go on to cause cancer — just like traditional smoking. Previous studies have also found vapers experienced a similar pattern of changes within their genes as smokers, although the changes are less extensive.
