No disposable e-cigarettes in the UK from June 1st

From June 1st, the sale of disposable e-cigarettes will be banned in the United Kingdom. The measure was announced by the British government last year as part of a more general crackdown on 'vaping', especially to protect young people and the very young. In Europe, Germany, Belgium and France have also taken this measure.

Disposable cigarettes, what are the risks?

The ban

The ban will affect all stores as well as online commerce, and all types of non-rechargeable e-cigarettes: with or without nicotine. Reusable charging devices will remain legal. Increasing fines of varying amounts are expected in the four nations of the Kingdom against offenders and the transition from administrative sanctions to criminal sanctions (up to two years in prison) in the case of repeat violations by retailers.

The initiative was taken up at the time by Keir Starmer 's Labour executive against the backdrop of growing alarms from doctors and social organizations about the spread of disposable vaping: not as a tool to limit the use of traditional cigarettes, but as a lucrative parallel market and perhaps a springboard towards classic smoking, which is even more harmful to health. Even more so because of the multiplication of colorful and attractive models, apparently designed to attract a clientele of boys and girls. Previously, the latest Conservative governments had also moved along the same health-conscious line.

What are disposable cigarettes?

The ease of finding this product online or even in stores that are not tobacconists, has favored the spread of "disposable" cigarettes in Italy too. As well as their not looking like cigarettes. To the point that many have already tried them in elementary school. In middle school there is then a real boom.

These 'timed' e-cigs have a limited duration of a few days at most and cannot be recharged. There are several models on the market, with many flavors. Electronic cigarettes, including disposable ones, contain 20 milligrams per milliliter of nicotine while with a single traditional 'blonde' you absorb about 1 milligram of nicotine.

They are also called 'puff', which in English means 'shot'. The number of shots, together with the aroma and the possible presence of nicotine, is one of the main characteristics of this product. Most of those on the market offer about 600.

A trap for children and teenagers

The French National Academy of Medicine has defined 'puffs' as "a particularly insidious trap for children and adolescents". This is because they would contribute to generating a gestural habit that would then push young people to become interested in tobacco as they grow older. Furthermore, the fact that the 'puff' packets are brightly colored and offer a variety of flavors that recall sweets, would demonstrate the desire of manufacturers (especially Chinese) to target especially the very young age group. In fact, a survey by ACT (Alliance Against Tobacco) confirmed that approximately 13% of adolescents between 13 and 16 have tried disposable electronic cigarettes at least once.

They could promote addiction

The nicotine contained in some disposable electronic cigarettes has some characteristics different from that present in traditional cigarettes and the first e-cigs and that could promote addiction. The latest generation e-cigs, in fact, contain nicotine salts instead of the free-base nicotine present in many vaping products and in classic cigarettes. The salts are less irritating, are perceived as less bitter, and increase the pleasantness of e-cigs.

However, these salts are associated with a high risk of addiction: according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, up to four times more than traditional tobacco. In fact, they are absorbed much faster than the nicotine contained in traditional cigarettes and quickly reach the central nervous system. The result is that those who use them cannot stop and therefore take in a lot of nicotine in a short time.

Some evidence, obtained in experiments with laboratory animals, shows that nicotine salts could increase the cardiac risk linked to electronic cigarettes, because they increase the risk of arrhythmias. Recently, disposable e-cigs containing synthetic nicotine have also arrived, a compound whose toxicity profile is not yet fully known, but which creates addiction.

Also watch out for e-cigs without nicotine

You also have to be careful with e-cigs without nicotine because they still contain substances that can be toxic: they can be present in the liquid or can be released with the formation of vapor. Examples of these are propylene glycol and glycerin, which can cause irritation to teeth and gums, induce bronchitis, hoarseness and sore throat and promote a worsening of asthma.

But that's not all: overheating the battery generates significant concentrations of heavy metals such as nickel, titanium, silver, cadmium, chromium, which are certainly not harmless and whose effects over time are unknown.

A threat to the environment

Finally, the production and consumption of hundreds of millions of disposable electronic cigarettes around the world is also a problem from an environmental point of view. According to some experts, the problem is even greater than traditional cigarettes, given the explosion in consumption and the “multi-component” nature. of these devices.