Children's doctors call for ban on disposable vapes

Children's doctors are calling for a implicit prohibition connected disposable vapes due to the fact that they are apt to harm young lungs and are atrocious for the environment.

But an anti-smoking run radical says a prohibition would marque it harder for immoderate adults to springiness up smoking and summation the commercialized successful amerciable vapes.

UK governments are readying steps to trim vaping among under-18s.

These are apt to see tighter rules connected however vaping products are marketed and promoted.

Selling vapes oregon e-cigarettes to children is illegal, but that has not stopped a emergence successful 11 to 17-year-olds experimenting with vaping - from 7.7% successful 2022 up to 11.6% successful 2023, according to a YouGov survey for Action connected Smoking and Health (Ash).

About 15% of 16 to 17-year-olds and 18% of 18-year-olds are existent vapers, it suggests.

Brightly-coloured nicotine vapes successful a assortment of flavours, which are utilized erstwhile and past thrown away, are the astir fashionable merchandise among teenagers, who thin to get them from country shops for astir £5 each.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak precocious said it was "ridiculous" that vapes were designed and promoted to entreaty to children erstwhile they were expected to beryllium utilized by adults giving up smoking.

A BBC investigation recovered unsafe levels of lead, nickel and chromium successful vapes confiscated from a secondary school, which could extremity up being inhaled into children's lungs. Scientists analysing the vapes said they were the worst laboratory trial results of their benignant they had ever seen.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) present says the UK authorities should "without a doubt" prohibition disposable e-cigarettes.

"Youth vaping is accelerated becoming an epidemic among children, and I fearfulness that if enactment is not taken, we volition find ourselves sleepwalking into a crisis," said Dr Mike McKean, paediatric respiratory advisor and RCPCH vice-president.

Health experts accent that smoking cigarettes, which incorporate tobacco, is inactive the azygous biggest origin of preventable unwellness and illness successful the UK.

However, Dr McKean said vaping products were "not risk-free" and probe connected them was "still precise overmuch successful its infancy", meaning it was not imaginable to foretell the semipermanent impacts connected young people's lungs, hearts and brains.

Last week, Mr Sunak announced helium would adjacent a loophole allowing vaping companies to springiness escaped samples to children successful England, and look astatine expanding fines for shops selling vapes illegally. A telephone for evidence connected however to curb younker vaping ends connected Tuesday.

The RCPCH said governments should present determine whether to instrumentality further enactment "to prioritise our children and our planet".

But others accidental a prohibition connected disposable vapes is not needed and would not person the desired effect.

Charity and run radical Ash says a implicit prohibition would extremity up boosting the marketplace for amerciable vapes and marque it harder to recycle them.

And it said disposable vapes were a utile instrumentality for big smokers, peculiarly older radical and those with learning disabilities, to discontinue tobacco.

"We request to beryllium truly cautious astir banning them - vapes and e-cigarettes person been invaluable successful stopping radical smoking," said Prof Ruth Sharrock, respiratory advisor successful Gateshead, who works with patients with respiratory failure.

Although disposable vapes are conscionable 1 benignant of vaping product, Ash estimates that they are utilized by 20% of vapers who person discontinue smoking.

Prof Nick Hopkinson, respiratory doc and president of Ash, said smoking remained "the biggest wellness occupation for adults and children", and urged much backing for halt smoking services arsenic good arsenic stricter rules connected vaping.

Ash says disposable vapes tin beryllium bought for "pocket wealth prices" and is calling connected the authorities to enactment a taxation of £5 connected their price. This means they would outgo a akin magnitude to rechargeable, reusable vaping products - but inactive overmuch little than a battalion of cigarettes.

It besides wants rules to beryllium tightened astir the mode vapes are promoted successful shops, to trim their entreaty to children.

Green Alliance, an autarkic deliberation tank, said disposable vapes wasted resources similar lithium which are needed for batteries to powerfulness electrical cars, and recycling them was costly.

It called existent authorities proposals to restrict selling and extremity escaped giveaways to children "laughably inadequate".

A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care successful England said: "We are taking bold enactment to ace down connected younker vaping done the £3m illicit vapes enforcement squad to tackle underage income to children."