Published22 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Hugh Pym and Lucy WatkinsonBBC NewsThe message that vaping is 95% safer than smoking has backfired, encouraging some children to vape, says a top health expert. Dr Mike McKean treats children with lung conditions and is vice-president for policy at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.He says the 2015 public messaging should have been clearer – vapes are only for adults addicted to cigarettes. Evidence on the possible health risks of vaping is still being gathered.In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Dr McKean said: “Vaping is not for children and young people. In fact it could be very bad for you,” although he stresses that it is not making lots of children very sick, and serious complications are rare. “Vaping is only a tool for adults who are addicted to cigarettes.”He says the 95% safe messaging was “a very unwise thing to have done and it’s opened the door to significant chaos”. The “switch to vape” message has had an unintended consequence of driving children to take up e-cigs, he says.”There are many children, young people who have taken up vaping who never intended to smoke and are now likely addicted to vaping. And I think it’s absolutely shocking that we’ve allowed that to happen.”It feels like we have put all our eggs in one basket and said ‘this is the way to tackle cigarette smoking’ and I feel we have neglected children and young people, by sort of embracing something almost too much without the real proper thought.”Prof Ann McNeil was one of the co-authors of the original 2015 report and told the BBC that the advice was based on the literature at the time and what was known about what the products contained.”It was never intended to communicate that they’re safe – it was intended to say there is a big difference in the harms.”She says vaping is less risky than smoking, but children should not be doing it.The 95% safer figure is still used today by the vaping industry to promote its products. Doctors, public health experts, cancer charities and governments in the UK all agree that – based on the current evidence – e-cigarettes carry a fraction of the risk of cigarettes.The latest UK update on vaping and health published in 2022 says: in the short and medium term, vaping poses “a small fraction” of the risks of smokingvaping is not risk-free, particularly for people who have never smokedlong-term effects or risks of vaping are unknown and need studyingthere is a lack of evidence on whether flavourings affect health risksthe risk and severity of nicotine dependency from vaping is lower than for smoking but varies by productLike smoking, vaping is illegal for under-18s, but data suggests a growing number of young people are doing it. More than one in 10 people aged 16-24 said they were daily or occasional users in 2022, according to a survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics.Although vapes don’t contain the same dangerous toxins as cigarettes, they do deliver a hit of addictive nicotine. Some teenage users say they are hooked. The BBC has been investigating youth vaping – recent tests on illegal vapes confiscated from a school found unsafe amounts of metals that could be inhaled into children lungs.Teen vaping: ‘I’ll have puffs as I’m falling asleep’Vaping – is it a risk-free option?High lead and nickel found in illegal vapesThere is concern that young people are taking up vaping because they see it as completely risk-free.Ian says he found his 13-year-old son smoking vapes and was horrified. “He’s addicted to vaping and the more I looked into it the more I realised he is not alone. “I asked him why he does it and he says because it gives him a buzz, and that’s how these addictions start.”Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently said it was “ridiculous” that vapes were designed and promoted to appeal to children when they were supposed to be used by adults giving up smoking.In Australia, vapes are only available on prescription. Smoking rates in the UK have been steadily falling in adults and children, both before and after vapes were introduced. Vaping can help smokers quit cigarettes. Mr Sunak is expected to announce measures soon aimed at cracking down on youth vaping in England. The Scottish and Welsh governments have already called for a ban on disposable vapes.More on this storyFive million vapes thrown away every week – researchPublished8 SeptemberVaping – is it a risk-free option?Published24 June 2022Related Internet LinksRCPCH – The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child HealthThe BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

Published2 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, BBC NewsBy Hugh Pym and Lucy WatkinsonBBC NewsVapes confiscated from school pupils contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium, BBC News has found. Used vapes gathered at Baxter College in Kidderminster were tested in a laboratory.The results showed children using them could be inhaling more than twice the daily safe amount of lead, and nine times the safe amount of nickel.Some vapes also contained harmful chemicals like those in cigarette smoke.High levels of lead exposure in children can affect the central nervous system and brain development, according to the World Health Organization.It is thought vapes are being used widely by secondary school children and Baxter College is not alone in trying to stop them vaping during school hours.How easy is it to buy an illegal vape?Warning over vape misuse after children collapseHow to stop children vapingThe Inter Scientific laboratory, in Liverpool, which works with vape manufacturers to ensure regulatory standards are met, analysed 18 vapes.Most were illegal and had not gone through any kind of testing before being sold in the UK. Lab co-founder David Lawson said: “In 15 years of testing, I have never seen lead in a device.”None of these should be on the market – they break all the rules on permitted levels of metal. “They are the worst set of results I’ve ever seen.”In “highlighter vapes” – designed with bright colours to look like highlighter pens – the amounts of the metals found were:lead – 12 micrograms per gram, 2.4 times the stipulated safe exposure levelnickel – 9.6 times safe levels chromium – 6.6 times safe levelsThe metals were thought to come from the heating element – but the tests showed they were in the e-liquid itself.The lab tests also found compounds called carbonyls – which break down, when the e-liquid heats up, into chemicals such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, also found in cigarette smoke – at 10 times the level in legal vapes. Some even had more than cigarettes.Manufacturers have to follow regulations on ingredients, packaging and marketing – and all e-cigarettes and e-liquids must be registered with the Medicine and Health Care Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). But the agency is not required to check the claims made in paperwork and has no power to investigate unregistered products.MHRA head of e-cigarettes Craig Copland said the results would be reviewed to assess whether the vapes posed a health risk.BBC News showed the findings to Baxter College pupils Leon and Oscar, whose vapes had been confiscated. They admitted in a previous interview they were hooked on nicotine and struggled to give up vaping.Image source, BBC NewsThe boys say it is easy to ignore the risks.”You won’t really care, if you’re addicted to it – you’ll just forget about it,” Oscar said.Leon said regulation and policing should be doing more to tackle the problem.”They’re not really as bothered as they should be,” he said.Head teacher Mat Carpenter was horrified by the findings. He has installed sensors in the school toilets to try to reduce opportunities to vape.”It’s been part of youth culture for a long time and we are a long way behind the curve in influencing children’s behaviour around this, which is why we need such a strong message,” Mr Carpenter said.Image source, BBC News”As a society we are capable of holding two messages, one that if you smoke already vaping can have a positive effect on your health, but children should not be vaping.”Is vaping bad for you?Vaping nearly killed me, says British teenagerUniversity of Nottingham epidemiology professor John Britton, who sits on the Royal College of Physicians Tobacco Group, said inhaling metals could be dangerous. “Lead is a neurotoxin and impairs brain development, chrome and nickel are allergens and metal particles in general in the bloodstream can trigger blood clotting and can exacerbate cardiovascular disease,” he said.”The carbonyls are mildly carcinogenic and so with sustained use will increase the risk of cancer – but in legal products, the levels of all of these things is extremely low so the lifetime risk to the individual is extremely small.”But Mr Lawson said there had been a much greater rise in illegal products recently and “some of these are hard to distinguish between the ones which are potentially legal”. The government has allocated £3m to tackle the sale of illegal vapes in England. It wants to fund more test purchases and have the products removed from shops and is calling for evidence to help cut the number of children accessing vapes. It is illegal to sell vapes to under-18s. But a YouGov survey in March and April for Action on Smoking and Health suggests a rise in experimental vaping among 11- to 17-year-olds, from 7.7%, last year, to 11.6%. More on this storySensors reduce student vaping, school saysPublished10 MarchNew measures to crack down on illegal teen vapingPublished9 April