Call for more action to curb teen vaping

A leading public health expert says more needs to be done to deter young people from vaping.

Prof Linda Bauld, of the University of Edinburgh, said issues such as underage sales and the branding of e-cigarettes needed to be tackled.

It came as a BBC investigation found vapes confiscated from school pupils contained high levels of lead, nickel and chromium.

People under 18 can not legally buy a vape in the UK.

The Scottish government has said it will consider banning disposable vapes due to their impact on the environment. Zero Waste Scotland is conducting a review.

Prof Bauld - a social policy advisor to the Scottish government - said they should be made less attractive to young people but not banned.

She told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland: "We've really driven smoking rates down to very low levels in young people and we don't want them using these addictive products."

The BBC investigation found that most of the vapes confiscated from pupils in Kidderminster were illegal and had not gone through any testing before being sold in the UK.

Laboratory tests showed that the children using them could be inhaling more than twice the daily safe amount of lead, and nine times the safe amount of nickel.

Prof Bauld said there was balance to be struck, as vapes could be useful to people trying to stop smoking cigarettes.

"We know that legal products are hugely less harmful than smoking but there's a good reason why they're restricted," she said.

"Kids that are using these contraband elicit vapes probably have no idea where they come from or the fact that actually they're being exposed to things at higher levels than even in the legal vapes."

Prof Bauld, who rose to prominence during the pandemic, added: "If kids are using these particularly for extended periods, it will harm their health.

"I think the disposable vapes in particular are a problem. They're are incredibly cheap they are very attractive and they are so marketing in particular ways."

YouGov data for Britain suggests experimental vaping among 11 to 17-year-olds rose from 5.6% in 2014 to 11.6% in 2023.

Prof Bauld said there needs to be a crackdown on underage sales and how vapes are branded.

"Lets not throw the baby out with the bath water, we don't want to ban these as some countries have done but we do need to take some action that will level out which I think is tipping slightly towards the too attractive to young people," she said.