This is what vaping does to your body

The UK government has announced it will ban the sale of disposable vapes in England from June 2025.

Vape usage in England grew by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), with 9.1% of the population now buying and using these products.

Experts are concerned about the health risks associated with vaping, which has been linked to lung and heart disease. The long-term health impacts of vaping are yet unknown, but dozens of people have been admitted to hospital over problems linked to vaping in recent years.

There are also fears around the impact of vaping on children and teenagers. Although it is illegal to sell vapes and e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18, vape usage among young people has doubled within the three years to 2023.

According to children's charity SACPA (Safeguarding and Child Protection Association), NHS hospital admissions for "vaping-related disorders" tripled in two years across all age groups, with exponential rises among young people aged below 20.

Since the start of 2022 to the end of 2023, there were 66 hospitalisations due to vaping for patients under the age of 20. Alarmingly, there were 24 admissions of children under the age of 10 - up from only two admissions in the same period in 2021.

The government said it was also concerned about the environmental impact of disposable vapes, which have contributed to a "tide of litter" on Britain's streets.

Single-use vapes cannot be recharged or refilled, and recycling them is a "slow and difficult process" because they have to be disassembled by hand. They also contain lithium-ion batteries that present a fire hazard to waste industry workers.

It was estimated that nearly five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in the UK last year.

Sold in bright colours, disposable vapes come in sweet and fruity flavours like pink lemonade, gummy bear and watermelon.

Statistics revealed that more people aged 16 to 24 in Britain are using e-cigarettes – with a sharp rise among young women – which experts have described as "worrying".

Vapes used by children were found to have high levels of lead, nickel and chromium, BBC News unearthed in 2022. E-cigarettes confiscated from pupils at Baxter College in Kidderminster were tested in a lab, revealing shocking results.

Those using them could be inhaling more than twice the daily safe amount of lead and nine times the safe amount of nickel, while some vapes also contain harmful chemicals similar to those found in cigarette smoke.

The Inter Scientific laboratory in Liverpool analysed 18 vapes to find most were illegal and hadn't gone through safety testing before being sold, prompting concern about how widespread the issue is.

How safe is vaping?

Advice surrounding the safety of vaping can seem somewhat conflicted.

"Numerous studies from health groups in the UK have concluded that using an e-cigarette, known as vaping, is better for your health compared to smoking," Dr Diana Gall, from Doctor 4 U previously told Yahoo Life.

“A report by Public Health England, which was compiled by several UK-based academics, found that vaping is 95% safer than smoking. Cancer Research UK has also given its support to people using vaping as a means of fighting against smoking related diseases.”

However, while the Cancer Research UK website acknowledges e-cigarettes are thought to be better than smoking, it adds: ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​"E-cigarettes are not risk-free. We don't yet know their long-term effects, so people who have never smoked shouldn't use them."

The charity points out that there is no good evidence to show that vaping [when using safety-checked vapes] causes cancer. But, it adds, "They can cause side effects such as throat and mouth irritation, headache, cough and feeling sick. These side effects tend to reduce over time with continued use. We don’t know yet what effects they might have in the long term."

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty, has said previously: "If you smoke, vaping is much safer; if you don’t smoke, don’t vape; marketing vapes to children is utterly unacceptable."

The health implications of vaping

While many experts believe vaping is much less damaging to health compared to smoking, some research has cast an element of doubt over those beliefs.

For example:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies highlighted the damaging effect of vaping on blood vessels. Long-term use of electronic cigarettes, or vaping products, can significantly impair their function, increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, the research suggested

• Also, something to be aware of is that ending up using both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes can cause an even greater risk when done together

• Researchers from the University of Athens also previously found that flavourings in e-cigarettes harm the lungs by causing inflammation

Other research has raised questions about the chemicals in e-cigarettes. "Certain studies have found certain chemicals in e-cigarette vapour that are the same than those found in cigarette smoke, but they are [typically] at much lower levels," explains Dr Gall.

NHS figures also show a rise in the number of children admitted to hospital due to vaping.

Forty children and young people were admitted to hospital in England last year due to “vaping-related disorders”, which could include lung damage or worsening asthma symptoms, up from 11 two years earlier, the NHS said.

How to talk to your children about vaping

The NHS has put together some facts to tell young people about vaping:

• Vaping is a way for adults to stop smoking – not something for non-smokers, especially children and young people to try.

• Vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking but that does not mean it is harmless.

• In the UK, it is against the law to sell nicotine vaping products to under-18s or for adults to buy them on their behalf.

• Vaping exposes users to some toxins, and we do not yet know what the risks might be in the longer term.

• Some vapes contain nicotine, which is an addictive substance that can be hard to stop using once you have started.

• Nicotine may be more risky for young people than for adults, as evidence suggests the brain in adolescence is more sensitive to its effects.

• Some disposable vapes on sale are illegal and do not meet UK quality and safety regulations.

Read more about smoking and vaping:

• Kate Garraway shares moment she became ‘instantly addicted’ to disposable vapes (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)

• Number of children vaping spikes 50% in a year (Independent, 5-min read)

• Australia bans recreational vaping to avoid having ‘nicotine addicts’ (Independent, 2-min read)

Additional reporting PA.