They may look like travel shampoo bottles and smell like bubblegum, but after a few hundred puffs, some disposable, electronic cigarettes and vape pods release higher amounts of toxic metals than older e-cigarettes and traditional cigarettes, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. For example, one of the disposable e-cigarettes studied released more lead during a day’s use than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes.

  • Squiddork@lemmy.worlddeleted by creator
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    1 year ago

    If you read the paper, it assumes a 100% absorption rate of the heavy metals emitted.

    I’m not here to defend vapes but I think that is a seriously overlooked flaw in this study. Most people don’t puff a cigarette/vape and hold it in their lungs until it’s completely absorbed.

    Couldn’t see anything about the bioavailability of these carcinogens via lungs factored into the absorption rate either.

    Ontop of that the sample size from this study is abysmal and from the same manufacturer and there is also a declared conflict of interest.

    IMO more studies need to be done before we can conclusively determine the damage and risks of disposable vapes.

    • vxx@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      They’re comparing it to cigarettes and other vapes.

      20 times more lead is still 20 times more lead.

      • Squiddork@lemmy.worlddeleted by creator
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        1 year ago

        Cigarettes have a myriad of carcinogens like toluene, benzene, formadelhyde, hexamine, napthaline and acetone

        Stating that vapes are more toxic than cigarettes over one metric is disingenuous journalism.

        I’m not disagreeing about the lead content but studies like this get picked up by journalists with the comprehension of a tomato and are then misconstrued into these fear-creating headlines for engagement.

        The adoption of vapes tremendously ate into the big tobacco profits, its an extremely effective way of getting off cigarettes. (for better or worse)

        If we instead listened to these studies and developed a similar form of nicotine replacement therapy with harm minimisation in mind under industry regulation we’d do far more for smokers, vapers and our healthcare systems than any fear mongering ‘don’t do it!’ campaigns which time and time again do not work.

        • vxx@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I said they tested them against cigarettes and older vapes.

          You’re the one msirepresenting the study.

    • lechekaflan@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Some of the studies on smoking I’ve seen were less about understanding how and why people consume tobacco and recommend alternatives, and more like echoing the old practices and beliefs of the temperance movement, which considers tobacco and alcohol as archenemies of humanity. That anytime there’s someone publicly declaring they quit smoking, it’s followed with praises which at times reminiscent of a tent revival.

    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Regulatory issues. Adulterants in shitty quality disposables.

      Not “vaping inherently dangerous.”

    • TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      the disposables are the problem. probably manufacturing or regulations. the way the coils aren’t changed, the way it sits in it, the way they use highly concentrated nicotine salts… it’s nothing like the classic refillable tank and box mods that just took regular juice with nothing but PG/VG/nicotine/flavoring

      • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Could also be due to soldering the resistance wire itself in place, or something else that’s in contact with the juice. These guys often ship these in international parcel shipping direct to consumer. That means a lot of shocks and they want to make sure the disposable works when whoever they sold it to(and who clicked "why of course I’m 18) so they don’t have to deal with returns. Non disposable vapes do not have solder points in any part of tank or atomizer because they’re generally assembled with o rings and threads. These are not.

        • Gigasser@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          It’s adulterants and the solder used. I believe you can access the study through the article itself. It should tell you some of the sources of heavy metals.

        • dai@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’d be pretty surprised to see lead solder used in these applications, lead free is the defacto standard and has been for a long time. Not in vapes but any consumer electronics device.

          More than likely it’s the mesh coils used having some lead present.

    • catty@lemmy.worldBanned
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      1 year ago

      People want to ingest a harmful drug and not see that as a threat to their health?

      • dai@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Nicotine isn’t really harmful, aside from the rediculously addictive nature it’s what a vasoconstrictor?

        Much like caffeine it has some decent properties for focus / cognitive abilities.

        The main downfall is how it’s consumed by the majority of the population. Durries are overall awful. The stench, accidental burns and all the inhaling burning plant matter leading to cancer thing.

        • Gigasser@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Nicotine can be bad for your cardiovascular health. It can lead to hardening of arteries over time. Vasoconstrictive effects of nicotine are also really bad for oral health and can encourage development of gingivitis/gum disease, a reminder that loss of gums can be permanent. I vape, been trying to quit, been on and off. It’s an insidious habit to kick. I won’t discount that it can be good for focus tho, lol.

        • catty@lemmy.worldBanned
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          Nicotine isn’t really harmful,

          lol #1

          Much like caffeine it has some decent properties for focus / cognitive abilities.

          lol #2

          lobby harder.

            • catty@lemmy.worldBanned
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              1 year ago

              lol #3

              (It was such a stupid statement, one doesn’t need to).

              • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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                Yeah it’s totally because everything is “stupid” and not the fact that you have no argument outside of superficial fearmongering which falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. It’s so stupid that you keep replying with nonsense talking about how anyone else’s statements are unworthy of replying to 🙄

                • catty@lemmy.worldBanned
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                  1 year ago

                  superficial

                  You’re right. Cancer is superficial damage. Speaking of which, enjoy your cancer.

  • catty@lemmy.worldBanned
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    1 year ago

    Do these threats exist in the exhaled smoke? It seems like people around me don’t GAF about the exhaust from vapes.

    • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Sure, but the diesel bus that just drove by you gave you way more cancer than Brad with his Vanilla Mocha vape did.

    • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world
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      Those people are jackasses and should be shamed. I quit a 6 year cigarette smoking habit with just one year of using an actual vape, not these shitty gas station things. One of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The potential for smoking cessation is there. But stupid and obnoxious people set the basis for stereotypes.

      • catty@lemmy.worldBanned
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        1 year ago

        The amount of nicotine one gets per puff in a vape is greater than a cigarette. As cigarettes are generally being made illegal, big tobacco needs to circumvent the law (which governments usually give multiple years notice to relevant companies). Sadly, using vapes is not giving up cigarette smoking but merely moving addiction from one nicotine method to another. Teens vaping causing a life-long addiction is no different from teens smoking and doing the same.

        • MiddleAgesModem@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah, I know where my vape came from and it wasn’t “big tabacco”.

          Saying vaping is worse than cigarettes is unbelievably fucking stupid.

          I just said I used a vape for smoking cessation and so do countless others.

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    All they had to do was keep it quiet for 15 years until the new generation was addicted.

    Remember when e-cigarettes looked like cigarettes, and were for a brief time allowed to be smoked indoors in public? That’s how it started, we were told they were completely healthy, and a way to “kick the habit”, because it’s “just a habit”, not one of the strongest addictions you’ll ever encounter, according to the people who make millions off of it.

      • tankfox@midwest.social
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        1 year ago

        If the coil is getting red hot it’s not producing vapor anymore. Vapor is just boiled oil and the boiling happens at a lower temperature than red hot by a significant amount, and the whole system is configured that the incoming vape juice cools the coil in the process of becoming vapor. This study is about as significant as noticing that if you set the filter of a cigarette on fire it can produce extra-toxic chemicals. No shit, but that’s not how they work.

        More bullshit ads for plant based vaping alternatives; cigarettes.

        • 3abas@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve wrapped enough coils to know they do in fact get red hot. Ask anybody who built coils how many times they’ve had to throw away a tank full because they ran it too fast and it burnt.

          You trust the disposables to supply enough juice to keep the coil from every getting red hot? You trust the coil to be made of safer metals?

          • tankfox@midwest.social
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            1 year ago

            I think you kinda made my point for me, once the cart has hit the temperature at which it releases those chemicals the cart is immediately ruined. This kind of goes to my ‘if you burn the whole cigarette including the filter the net result is even more toxic’. I mean, sure, but that’s really gross data manipulation.

            • 3abas@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              The ruined coil is if you run it too hot for too long… You’re being naive if you think it never runs a little dry and the coils never get red hot.

              If you have a tank that exposes the coil from the air hole, just look inside it and see how red it gets from a one second hit.

          • Thank you, this is the angle I needed for my brains to get it.

            My take; clogged watt-limited dispossible vape doesn’t get enough airflow, burns the coil. Still not sure where the lead comes from but I get that might release metals. Thanks!

            • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              Still not sure where the lead comes from

              Countries with low manufacturing standards; historically one would assume China but that’s not necessarily the case nowadays

              • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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                1 year ago

                Why is a byproduct of ‘regulations’ that don’t allow them to be manufactured in a place with reasonable safety standards. Its not too different than when the US poisoned the alcohol supply and killed or maimed a bunch of people. All they reported at the time was that alcohol/moonshine is dangerous but it was only because the government made it that way by design not something inherent to the product itself.

            • 3abas@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You’re splitting hairs. The coils get red hot on dry wick and it burns. The coils are overheating.

      • Revan343@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        It’s not from the coil, at least in the cases that this article is about, but other parts of the tank. Shitty manufacturing, anyways

        • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Or just another shitty study like the one they did in Oregon where they fired the coils for 60 seconds at a time and literally melted the rigs down before measuring what chemicals off gassed from the smoldering pile of plastic and metal.

          • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Yeah no Chinese ever shoved cancer in the face of consumers for money! Let’s trust capitalism on this one.

            🙄

    • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Lead comes from the device hardware, not the juice. Heating coils, solder, and metal parts shed particles when hot.

      • Psythik@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Given how short the DMT trip is—and the fact that DMT vapes are a thing now—this is entirely possible. I mean I’ve done it. It’s a lot harder to break through than you think. You’re still going to be mostly grounded with reality. You’ll have some trippy thoughts and see some pretty neat visuals, then it’s back to normal in under 10 minutes.

        That said, I would still only recommend this to people who have tripped at least once before. If you’re looking to replace your oral fixation, I’d recommend a 1:1:1 weed vape for day-to-day use, and a higher THC live resin formula for the evenings.

  • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    One of the few benefits of Trump’s de minimus revocation is that smuggling these in through parcel shipping will significantly be reduced.

    In the end though, you should be mixing your own juice and ideally wrapping your own coils if you vape. It’s easy and it’s damn cheap by comparison(what’s sold locally for 28 dollars I mix myself for 3) and you know exactly what’s in it.

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Only problem is kanthal and cotton have gotten harder to source since everything is either dispos or smok now, have to get everything online.

    • TimewornTraveler@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      yes! i highly recommend working towards psychologically quitting while you smoke, first and foremost, but then secondly if you’re gonna smoke only use the DIY tank mods with your own coils, and your own juice ideally.

    • rc__buggy@sh.itjust.works
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      That’s what I’ve done for years now. I started at the very beginning when we were using eGo batteries and Nova tanks and rewicking them with tea bags. Now I use quality kanthal that I sourced a lot of when the place I was using shut off access to the hobbiest market (they may have returned, but I don’t remember the name). There’s some sort of certification sticker on the spools of wire that specify it is Kanthal A1 which contains aluminum as the most concerning metal.

      Who the fuck KNOWS what these resistance wires in the disposables are. The vape manufacturer probably doesn’t even know and really, doesn’t care. All they have to do is get close to the right resistance for each coil produced and the computer takes care of the rest. Lead makes metal bend easier so if you throw a little lead in your resistance wire it’s going to go through the machine easier.

    • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s so fucked that every single actor in the Marlboro commercials died of lung cancer. All of them.

    • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.worldOP
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      I swapped off vapes back to American Spirits after finding this study lol.

      Marlboro reds are really tasty, but i know they’re horrible for you as far as cigarettes go.

  • Darleys_Brew@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Doesn’t surprise me for the USA, but how does this apply to the rest of the world?