The growth of vaping among young people has meant that it is estimated that there are now around one million vapers in the UK who were never regular smokers, according to a scientific study published in The Lancet Public Health Journal.
The research showed that while vaping among never-regular-smokers was relatively stable up to 2021. They made up on average around 0·5% of vapers between July, 2016, and December, 2020, but this increased to 3·5% by April 2024.
The researchers, from the Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, found that this rise had been driven largely by young adults as well as by those who consume high levels of alcohol. The study found 19% of 18-year-olds in April 2024 who vaped had never been regular smokers.
In 2023–24, an average of 55·6% of never-regular-smokers who vaped reported vaping daily and 81·7% had been vaping for six months or more. The most used devices in 2023–24 were disposables, which were introduced into the market in 2021, and the most commonly used e-liquids contained 20 mg/ml or more nicotine.
This follows figures published earlier this year from the public health charity, ASH, which found the proportion of the population who vape had reached the highest rate ever this year at 11%, equal to 5.6 million adults in Great Britain.
The University College London study found the profile of never-regular-smoking adult vapers had changed in several ways since mid-2021. These vapers tended to be younger, more were women, and more were drinking at increasing or higher-risk levels. These groups, the research found, also tended to have been vaping for longer, were more likely to use disposable devices and the highest-strength nicotine e-liquids, and to buy their products from supermarkets or convenience stores.
The report’s authors said the challenge for policy makers was how to strike the right balance between minimising vaping among people who would never have smoked while ensuring vaping products are available to those that need support to quit and also ensure vaping can help to reduce harm by being available if somebody is likely to smoke but could be persuaded to vape instead.
The Labour government that came to power following the general election on 4th July is to reintroduce the previous government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill, that had cross-party support. This will bring in a ban on disposable vapes and restrictions on packaging. Recent reporting in The Guardian suggested that the government is also considering banning vaping in playgrounds, hospital grounds and near schools in an attempt to deter children from starting to vape.
Prior to this there had already been suggestions that the new bill probably needed to go further than previously planned. This is due to concerns about young people vaping either genuine THC vapes or devices that are actually spiked with the dangerous synthetic drug, spice. Even when these illegal substances are not detected, other studies have found dangerous levels of chemicals in vapes confiscated from school children.
Professor Pallav Shah, consultant physician in respiratory medicine, at Guy’s and Thomas’ Hospital in London reported on a study by the Inter Scientific laboratory, which offers regulatory and testing services, which looked at a selection of vapes confiscated within schools and found that they contained lead at 2.4 times the safe levels, nickel at 9.6 times safe levels and chromium at 6.6 times safe levels. Some of these may have been illicit vapes and the government has said it will strengthen Trading Standards organisations that enforce the law around the sale of vapes.
“The World Health Organisation says that high levels of lead exposure in children can also impact brain development and the nervous system,” said Professor Shah, “which makes these findings particularly worrying.”
However, the NHS has stated that current UK regulation of vapes has protected children against some harms. For example, the food flavouring chemical, diacetyl, was banned in the UK as an ingredient in vapes after it was found that high exposure to it caused a serious lung disease, bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as popcorn lung.
The unknown impacts of vaping long-term are continuing to concern some scientists although it is seen as a helpful tool to quit smoking, which is known to be a huge risk to public health. We have supported schools, that are at the forefront of tackling vaping among young people, to manage the problem by supplying the advanced vape detector, the HALO Smart Sensor. If you want to know more about how we can support your school to detect vaping please get in touch.