How dangerous is vaping - and why the concern over young vapers?
How dangerous is vaping and what is the disposable vape ban?
(5 months later)
Calls for bans on cheaper disposable vapes have been growing as more young people take up the habit.
A UK-wide ban on disposable vapes has been announced, as part of plans to cut the number of children vaping.
The Welsh government has called on the UK government to prohibit the single-use vapes, saying it needs to be "part of a suite of measures to address youth vaping".
Other measures including plainer packaging for vapes will also help target sales to children, the government says.
Officials in Westminster are actively looking for ways to reduce the numbers of young people buying and using vapes.
Is vaping dangerous?
But why is there rising concern about vaping levels, particularly among young people?
Vaping is nowhere near as harmful as smoking cigarettes.
Isn't vaping safer than smoking?
But health experts agree that anyone who doesn't smoke should not start vaping, particularly children.
No-one is arguing against this point. The smoking of cigarettes remains one of the biggest contributors to poor health in this country, and many others.
Children's doctors say vaping may cause long-term damage to young people's lungs, hearts and brains.
The number of deaths caused by smoking is falling - but it is still the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death and is estimated to cause a quarter of all cancer deaths. In 2019, it accounted for 75,000 deaths in England - 15% of the total.
The vapour inhaled contains a small amount of chemicals, including the addictive substance nicotine.
There had been decades of government efforts to dissuade people from smoking - most notably through information campaigns, heavy taxation of tobacco products, and the deployment of products such as nicotine patches or gum. But a 2019 medical study concluded that incorporating vaping was twice as successful as other nicotine-replacement methods.
More research is needed to pin down exactly what the health effects are.
Numbers of smokers have tumbled so much that the government has confidently set out an ambition for England to be smoke-free by 2030. It should be noted that "smoke-free" is defined as having fewer than 5% of the population smoking.
Another issue is that illegal vapes are widely available. These have been found to be much more likely to contain harmful chemicals or drugs, such as cannabis.
One of its tactics is to actively promote vapes as an alternative for those who find it difficult to quit. Officially the government's tactic is known as "swap to stop" - suggesting health ministers would prefer the switch to vapes to be part of a transition into giving up completely on inhaling any nicotine product.
Campaigners also say disposable vapes are wasteful and that the materials and chemicals used to make them, including their lithium batteries, make them difficult to dispose of safely.
How dangerous is vaping?
They can be recycled but only 17% of vapers do so. Five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week in the UK.
The e-cigarette vapour that is inhaled can still contain small amounts of chemicals that are found in cigarettes, including nicotine. But while it is addictive and can lead to dependence issues, nicotine is not seen by the NHS as among the most truly problematic ingredient in cigarettes.
Warning a child could die due to drugs in vapes
Most importantly for them, vapes do not contain tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke. Other chemicals that are found in tobacco smoke feature in much lower levels in e-cigarette vapour.
Never start vaping, says girl with lung damage
In the grand scheme of things, it is still a little early to tell how harmful these levels truly are. Many vapers are former smokers and that naturally complicates long-term studies into the effects on public health.
When will disposable vapes be banned?
But Prof John Britton, who advised the government on the issue, says in 40 or 50 years' time, we will start to see people developing lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and other serious lung conditions as a result of their vaping. But those numbers are likely to be small - and far smaller than the health issues caused by smoking.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins told the BBC she was confident the new bill would pass Parliament by the time of the general election, which must be held by 28 January 2025.
Dentists already say they are seeing some side effects of vaping, such as bad breath, ulcers, soreness in some areas and a dry mouth. This could lead to a lack of saliva and, potentially, tooth decay. But they say a high prevalence of bleeding gums is actually a side effect of people giving up smoking rather than taking up vaping.
The ban would then come into force in early 2025.
There is the separate issue of the dangers posed by illegal vape products, which are cheaper and attractive to young people with little money. Used vapes gathered by Baxter College, a secondary school in Kidderminster, were tested in a laboratory and found to contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium. High lead exposure in children can affect the central nervous system and brain development.
Once the timing is confirmed, retailers will be given six months to make the changes.
Another health issue only occurs with illegal vape products. Diacetyl, a flavouring that can be used in e-liquids but is banned in the UK, is associated with the serious lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans, otherwise known as "popcorn lung".
The government also plans to clampdown on the marketing of all other vapes to children by:
Are more young people vaping?
Reducing the use of flavours designed to appeal to children
Just two years ago, the authorities were confident in one thing. Surveys of under-18s suggested they were rejecting the idea of using vapes as resolutely as they had been turning away from smoking.
Introducing plain packaging
But since then there has been a significant upswing. The campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said the proportion of 11 to 17-year-olds who said they have tried vaping has jumped from 13.9% in 2020 to 15.8% in 2022 and then 20.5% in their survey this year.
Moving where vapes are displayed in shops - from on the counter to behind it
The proportion who now define themselves are regular vapers is now double the number of child smokers - although there is of course some overlap.
It is already illegal to sell vapes to under-18s, but the government also plans to increase fines for retailers which do so.
And 2022 was the first year that more children experimented with vaping than with smoking, according to the Ash annual study.
Disposable vapes to be banned for child health
Across all age groups, the number of people in England, Wales and Scotland who declared themselves to be regular vapers had reached 4.3 million, or 8.3% of adults, by last year, Ash said. The 18-24 age group has gone from being the lowest consumers in 2021 to the highest in 2022.
How many children vape?
That was accompanied by a seven-fold increase in the use of disposable vapes between 2020 and 2022, Ash added.
Nearly 8% of 11-17 year olds vape, according to figures from an online survey of 2,000 children by health charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health). That's up from 4% in 2020.
How hard is it to quit vaping?
It said 20% have tried vaping, with cheap, brightly-coloured disposable vapes driving up the increase from 14% three years ago.
Firstly, experts point out that there is not the same levels of NHS support available for people who want to become an ex-vaper as there are for those who aim to quit smoking.
Older teenagers are more likely to have tried vaping or be current vapers.
But vapers can be just as hooked on the two things that keep smokers puffing away - the desire for a hit of nicotine and the social rituals that mean there are regular triggers during their weekly routine that prompt them to reach for their vape.
Vaping is now twice as common as smoking among children.
Nicotine creates new receptors in the brain when it enters the body, and you quickly come to associate it with feeling good.
What are the vaping rules in other countries?
So when you stop getting it, you'll feel cravings. These tend to be worse in the first three to four days after your last dose.
Many countries have experienced a rise in vaping among children and young people.
According to the NHS, other withdrawal symptoms such as bad moods are likely in the early stages of quitting.
In response, the US has banned some vape flavours like mint and fruit in particular e-cigarettes.
Correction: This story has been amended to say that Prof John Britton no longer works in an advisory capacity for the government and his comments about the effects of vaping have also been clarified.
It also said it would ban products from Juul, one of the country's most popular vaping companies.
Six other vaping questions answered
Australia has announced e-cigarettes will be available only on prescription, for smokers who want to give up tobacco.
How does the government's swap-to-stop scheme help smokers?
In New Zealand, new rules were brought in last year to ban most disposable vapes and target flavours which appeal to children.
How has vaping become a way of life for many teenagers?
Many other countries, including South Korea, India and Brazil have announced very strict vape rules. Others, like China, have announced restrictions.
What is Scotland doing on the issue?
However, 88 countries have no minimum age for buying vapes and 74 have no laws in place for e-cigarettes, according to the World Health Organization.
How many disposable vapes get thrown away each week?
Why is vaping used to help smokers?
What is the environmental case for banning disposable vapes?
Cigarettes contain tobacco, tar and a host of cancer-causing toxic chemicals and are the largest preventable cause of illness and death in the UK.
How easy is it to buy an illegal vape?
About half of all life-long smokers will die early, losing on average about 10 years of life.
That's why people who smoke are urged to stop, with nicotine vapes the most effective quit tool - better than nicotine patches or gum.
Recent research also suggests people having face-to-face support while using vapes can be up to twice as likely to stop smoking than those using other methods.
But vaping is not completely harmless, so it's only recommended for adult smokers.
Smoking age should rise until it is banned - Sunak
They are offered free vape kits on the NHS to help them quit as part of its "swap to stop" programme.
More than two million smokers and ex-smokers who use disposable vapes would be affected by a ban, according to research by UCL.
Thousands of people have given up smoking using vaping as an alternative.
Fewer people in the UK are smoking than ever before - around 13%.
