Vaping: High lead and nickel found in illegal vapes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65614078
It seems our government are sending out packs to schools to help teach kids 11+ about the dangers of vaping. Based on the above however, it seems that kids of 11 are already vaping so we need to target younger children with this.
The longer this lot stay in power, the UK is going to fail endlessly to get a grip on anything.
@zleap BITD some kids (particularly those from "deprived" areas) were already smoking cigarettes at age 11-12, and even kids TV had Superman PSAs from the Health Education Council discouraging you from smoking a cigarette (he'd fly from the sky and arrest Nick O'Teen).
Even so I started smoking at age 15 and only quit in 2018 (I do vape, but am careful to use only approved kit and not persist with vaping with a burnt coil, which is where the heavy metals come from)
We just need to better target these illegal vapes, that can contain anything or as the article states higher quantities than normal. Surely this is also an issue a job for trading standards and the border force such as customs and excise.
There are lots of items bought online such as legal medication that can contain any number of chemicals,(at leat according to the BBC consumer programs, such as fake britain, watchdog etc).
The UK government cut back on so much, we are now paying a heavy price.
BTW what does BITD stand for?
Perhaps in terms of education, telling youmg peple xyz is bad for you in non science lessons is not the answer, perhaps what would be the answer is to look at this in Science, look at elements such as lead and other heavy metals in the periodic table, where they come from etc, but also how these substances can get in to the body, and the effects of this. Find statistics (maths) and corrlete the two together.
So not just from vaping, these disposable vapes have batteries that get thrown in the bin, bin contents go to landfill, batteries break down and these chemicals leach in to the soil and probably end up in the water system.
So actually get the kids to find out and discuss, may be a more effective way of teaching the dangers generally.
@zleap BITD = back in the day (in my case the 1980s).
I suspect the illegal ones are more popular with kids as responsible vape shops usually have ID checks to make sure customers are >18..
Every night I drive home I often see the unwanted remains of disposable vapes thrown down in the street, and they have caused several battery fires in local rubbish processing/recycling centres...
You're right. Plus these vapes are bright colours and have names clearly design to appeal to younger users.
I get the impression from tbe BBC reports vapes are meant for existing smokers so they are no longer smoking cigarettes. So not designed for people to actually start smoking,only as they still have nicotine they are clearly still addictive.
I wonder who is behind all this littering, young people are constantly having a 'go' at the older generation(s) for ruining the planet and their future, so if they are behind this littering it cries loudly of hypocracy. But that is a different matter.
@zleap "young people" aren't a united homogenous mass any more than when we were young - for every youth who supports Greta Thunberg there's another who supports Jeremy Clarkson or Andrew Tate and there are some who are *really* anti anything "woke" or "eco-friendly" who will deliberately pollute areas as "territory claiming" method (vandalism, some forms of graffiti and anti-social behaviour are also interlinked with this)
I think education will prevail over enforcement any day.
@zleap the whole vaping phenomenon was actively encouraged by the previous "pale blue" Tory government as a sop to the new psychoactive substances ("legal highs") dealers when they were put out of business by legislation in 2016, otherwise a fair proportion of them would have moved into selling illegal drugs out of spite (and they were intelligent middle class young entrepreneurs who already have the contacts both in mainland EU and China)
Well hopefully the Tories will be out in 2024, and by a huge margin, maybe put them in 3rd, with labour in, and maybe lib dems on the opposite benches.,
@zleap in the same way the Health Education Council managed to at least discourage primary school kids from smoking (and Keep Britain Tidy did the same for littering) a proper education campaign might work for around half of them.. I suspect a lot of teens genuinely don't realise the problems caused by a discarded lithium battery, which maybe should be taught to them in science (though PREVENT might also need to discourage others from deliberately exploiting this phenomenon!)