About 1,000 illegal disposable e-cigarettes were seized from a vape shop in Hove last month.
The vapes had oversized tanks, which gave them the capacity to hold about up to 720 cigarettes’ worth of nicotine in just one disposable e-cigarette.
At the same shop, trading standards officers also found about £2,500 worth of illegal tobacco.
The seizure was made during one of more than 25 visits officers from Brighton and Hove City Council made to vape shops in the city in the last month.
Officers were tasked with giving advice on the law to prevent the sale of illegal vapes and e-cigarettes and underage sales.
A recent national BBC investigation found that vapes confiscated from school pupils contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium.
High levels of inhaled lead damage central nervous system and brain development, especially if inhaled by a child or a young person.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Chair of the City Environment, South Downs and The Sea Committee, said: “I am very pleased with the work our Trading Standards officers are doing to tackle illicit vapes and underage sales.
“It’s disappointing that there are businesses in our city that are willing to put the health of our citizens at risk by selling illegal goods.
“The rapid rise of vaping among children and young people, including the use of cheaper illicit and unregulated vapes, is extremely concerning. It introduces nicotine addiction to generations, who might not have smoked otherwise.
“I’m also very concerned about the rise of disposable vapes. Aside from the health implications, they are completely unsustainable in terms of waste and I would encourage our local businesses to avoid stocking them entirely.
“Manufacturers are well aware that most are not disposed of correctly, and of the harm they cause by releasing plastic, electronic and hazardous chemical waste into the environment. They can also cause fire or pose health and safety risks at landfill sites.”
The majority of the disposable products seized contained oversized tanks, with capacities varying between 3,500 and 9,000 puffs. In terms of nicotine, one normal cigarette is the equivalent of about 12.5 puffs.
Vaping devices and e-liquids are highly regulated to ensure public safety by controlling the amount of nicotine present and must be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The UK legal limit on nicotine in disposable e-cigarettes is no more than two per cent (20mg/ml) and must not exceed 2ml in capacity – around 600 ‘puffs’.
Batteries and electrical items are a serious fire hazard, so should not be disposed of in household recycling or rubbish. Batteries can be recycled at supermarkets or at the household recycling sites.
The council expects all retailers to ensure that all disposable e-cigarettes, e-liquids and vaping devices they sell meet UK legal requirements.
Further, the council would like to remind retailers about the age restriction on the sale of vapes.
Anyone selling vapes to someone under 18 is committing an offence. The owner of the business can be held responsible as well as the member of staff who made the sale.
To report illegal nicotine inhaling products or tobacco, please contact Brighton & Hove Trading Standards on trading.standards@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
Hmm, the evidence-base to say either way is not well established, and we still don’t know the long-term effects.
The most recent thing we have is the 2019 EVALI outbreak, but that was suggested to be a contaminant, THC usage, and some idiopathic links. There’s a harm-reduction approach that is worth exploring potentially, but also regulated products will go a long way to ensure that people are using product that is safe and legal.
Will someome please imform all children about “Popcorn Lung”.
Google it and look at the pictures.
I have put some of my students off vapping by discussing this with them.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t discourage them from vaping, but popcorn lung is caused by diacetyl, which was outlawed as an ingredient in the UK in 2016. So you are misinforming your students.
There’s a lot of misinformation and sensationalising in this article. The “600 puffs per 2ml vape tank versus 12.5 puffs per cigarette” is a misleading metric. The 600 figure is based on a nicotine strength of 20mg per ml, whereas the vast majority of vapers use either 6 or 12mg strengths (or even less). More importantly, “puffs” are irrelevant to the amount of nicotine actually in the product – an average cigarette contains 12mg of nicotine, and a 2ml vape tank with 12mg strength liquid contains 24mg of nicotine, which is therefore equivalent to just 2 cigarettes. So to say that these seized vapes with oversized tanks can contain 720 cigarettes’ worth of nicotine is patently absurd – the tanks would need to contain 0.7 litres of liquid, which would make the vape the size of a wine bottle.