TL;DR: Small study of only 3 out of 100 brands on the market, so limited inference can be drawn but cheap construction leaches toxic substances into the liquid in ways that older non-disposable vapes don’t. In terms of health risk non-disposable vapes are best followed by a tie between traditional cigarettes and disposable vapes.
The particular brands are Elf Bar, Flum, and EscoBar
Edit addendum: heavy metals supposedly came from non heating elements
Holy shit they really named a vape brand after Pablo Escobar?
Most of the disposable e-cigarettes tested released markedly higher amounts of metals and metalloids into vapors than earlier, refillable vapes.
Yeah, seems to be an issue with a lack of commercial regulation than with the inherent technology itself. I am usually skeptical of any study toting cigarettes as the “safer” option, however this kinda keeps in pace with our society’s rapid devolution back to industrial age regulatory standards.
Industry’s regulatory and judicial capture seems to rear it ugly head once again at the expense of the public’s health.
And those three “brands” are all from the same company, who most certainly just gets them from SE Asia, they probably all come out of the exact same sweatshop.
Pretty sure all three of those brands are owned by the same company too.
Also they might leach more metals, but they still don’t produce the other known carcinogens in cigarettes.
In terms of health risk, not intentionally putting chemicals into your lungs that haven’t been prescribed by a doctor is best, but non-disposable vapes are a good harm reduction strategy for those who can’t get out of the compulsive habit.
The scientists analyzed the metal and metalloids inside seven types of disposable devices from three of the most popular brands. Using an instrument to activate the disposable e-cigarettes and heat the internal liquid, they created between 500 and 1,500 puffs for each device. They found:
- Some devices emitted surprisingly high concentrations of elements in the vapor, including antimony and lead.
- Levels of chromium, nickel and antimony increased as the number of puffs increased.
- Most of the disposable e-cigarettes tested released markedly higher amounts of metals and metalloids into vapors than earlier, refillable vapes.
The scientists then took apart the devices to trace the sources of the metals.
“We found that these disposable devices have toxins already present in the e-liquid, or they’re leaching quite extensively from their components into e-liquids and ultimately transferred to the smoke,” Salazar said.
The American mind yearns for the lead.
Look at all of y’all defending vapes 😂 your lungs are gonna be toast.
I don’t vape or smoke (I have used a few THC carts from time to time, but I usually just take half an edible, and the cart is used maybe once a month if that often), but I still will criticize broad generalizations from limited studies, especially not peer reviewed.
I do agree that their findings seem to be more about regulation than vaping itself, and I’m happy I don’t vape, but I’m not going to act like I can just confidently tell every person I know the science has proven their habit is worse than smoking.
every person I know the science has proven their habit is worse than smoking.
No one here is saying that, regardless of how people interpret comments.
Anecdotal, but as someone who has used vapes and smoked cigarettes since well before Juuls and the modern disposable market existed, I feel infinitely healthier vaping even modern disposables than I ever did smoking cigarettes.
If I were to guess at whether I was verifiably healthier now using only dispos, versus back when I smoked half a pack or more per day, my guess would be that I am far healthier now than I ever was then
Im open to being proven wrong, and obviously the best thing would be not to smoke at all, but as far as harm reduction goes Im still of the opinion that smoking cigarettes must be far worse. At least assuming you dont smoke well past the safe point of running out of liquid and just inhale straight coil. A lot of these reviews seem dubious to me in that they probably run the device differently than it is actually used by a vaper. Running past safe points of juice, running hotter than your lungs would ever be comfortable with etc. Just like how studies of cigs would have a pseudo-human device chain smoke without accounting for the ability of the lungs to clean themselves up over time. Or just time in general. How is a robot smoking 1000x straight the same as a human having 1000 darts over multiple months? That kind of thing
I know of at least a couple of earlier e-cig studies that fired the coils until the tank internals literally started to melt (i believe they were 60 second long ‘puffs’) and give off toxins. They then used this flawed data to claim that vaping normally would expose you to these compounds. Outside of old ancient mechanical mods, most every device times out after 10 seconds and even if they didn’t, no person would ever come close to a 60 second (nor even 10 seconds) long drag as the vapor temperature would burn the shit out of your throat long before that and people’s lungs aren’t large enough to inhale for that long.
It is true that vaping does’t have the immediate and perceivable negative effects on your body that cigarettes have. However, inhaling chemicals into your lungs is just clearly a bad idea. Metals? Wow yeah that makes your brain dumb. Have you noticed the mental decline around you? I sure have.
I used to smoke. Then I went to “ecigs.” Then the mints… and now I just do other drugs haha. I’m not going to tell someone not to do what they want to their body… but they should be honest, and educated about their choices—and not just making up excuses and ignoring medical science.
How can you talk about “ignoring science” while making claims like “inhaling chemicals into your lungs is just clearly a bad idea?” You may want to look up a basic definition of “chemical.”
Just because someone in the medical field conducts a study and publishes it doesn’t mean they’re correct or that their findings should automatically be taken as truth. That’s literally what science is, questioning everything. Medical science also told us that the cure for mental illness was to scrape out parts of people’s frontal lobe or shock their brain with thousands of volts of electricity and we can see how that turned out.
Nicotine usage is such a polarizing topic that gets lots of money flowing in from both sides with both sides expecting favorable results, so I absolutely take every one of these studies with a grain of salt.
How do you feel about vaccines?
Just fine because they’re well tested.
So you most definitely do not vape because it’s not well tested, right?
People study the shit out of vapes what are you talking about.
Perfect logic here. Everything must be dangerous because it has “chemicals” and isn’t well tested. Have you done a scientific study on the chemicals you breathe such as your local air supply? It’s definitely dangerous unless you have and I suggest you stop inhaling it until you do.
Im not making excuses, Im saying there are nuances to the use of, and therefore proper testing of, the device.
I used to make my own coils back in the day when there were juice bar shops. If you build a robust enough coil then the coil will well outlast the life of the cotton you put in it. Therefore theoretically the coil will not be heating up or being heated enough times to where the coil releasing metal particulate is a concern. If you build a flimsy coil and heat it up too high, or use it for too long past a reasonable lifetime, or run it dry, then youre going to be inhaling metal particulate as it breaks from the coil.
Therefore, if while testing these disposable devices they are just running the thing hot and fast as a matter of testing, then the results will show significantly more metal in the vapor than would have ever been there under normal use. And most places testing vapes dont care if their methods make it look worse than it actually is, because, just like with smoking, they get way more attention in pointing out how bad it is for you (in comparison to more middling perspectives that paint it as safer than smoking)
The most dangerous thing in the world of vaping rn IMO are weed cartridges and disposables. The “coil” in those is just the thinest piece of kanthal you can imagine. What makes it dangerous is that people have popularized taking “blinkers”, or running the device out to its 10 second safety limit point. They think its a safety for weed inhalation, but its quite the opposite. Its a safety to prevent that tiny wire from blowing itself out. More blinkers = more kanthal particulate that youre inhaling instead of weed. The device will keep going so long as two nubs of that wire can still make contact somehow, even if youve already blown out some of the wire
I assume you did your own Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry and so you know what you’re talking about? Because, ya know, evidence and science.
But if you didn’t it’s totally cool to just say “I don’t actually care, I like to do it” and I’ll be 100% on your side.
inhaling chemicals into your lungs is just clearly a bad idea
Lol
Noting the flaws in mythology is kind of important to science…And the article doesn’t do it so people in the comments are.
Creating convenient excuses is creating mythology.
Buddy, do you really think everyone criticizing this uses vapes?
Do you think it’s impossible to criticize points you agree with? I prefer misinformation getting called out
I don’t see misinformation being called out with EVIDENCE. this is like people complaining about vaccines.
Is it? I think it’s worth pointing out that they only tested 3 models (?) from the same company. We have no idea if it can be extrapolated so the headline is hyperbolic. It’s like saying apples potatoes are poisonous but you only tested 3 farms owned by the same company for poison.
Regardless, I am pro-regulation for both safety and environmental impact. They created an insane amount of ewaste already and now some have full color LCDs…on a device you’re supposed to throw away in a month
Is it really your opinion that different brands are significantly different when it comes to health concerns? Do you know what’s in it? I mean, did you do a test or are you relying on a manufacturer to be honest? Since you’ve already said they didn’t test these other models – does that mean you are OK to use those other models?
It just seems a bit ridiculous how upset people some get when they’re told that vaping is not good for them. It’s obviously not good for them.
I would like to point out to anybody reading this that I have never said not to do it, just admit you don’t know what’s in it and you like to do it regardless.
Can’t say what all the comments are like now, but at the time of you posting that there was literally no one defending vaping in the comments
Failing to read the whole article creates mythology.
Most of the disposable e-cigarettes tested released markedly higher amounts of metals and metalloids into vapors than earlier, refillable vapes.
I’m guessing you vape?
I’m guessing you drink alcohol?
I do, but I do not pretend like it’s not bad for me. It’s fine if you do it. I don’t care what you do with your body. But don’t act like it’s not bad for you
