UK News
More than 2.5 million illicit vapes seized over the last three years
10 months ago
More than 1,350,000 vapes have been seized by trading standards in west London alone.
Millions of illicit vapes / e-cigarettes have been seized by trading standards departments since the beginning of 2020, an investigation has revealed.
Freedom of information requests from The Guardian to 125 local authorities uncovered more than 2.5 million illegal and potentially harmful vapes have been collected over the last three years.
More than 1,350,000 vapes were seized by trading standards in west London alone due to the areaâs proximity to Heathrow â a major port of entry for the illegal trade.
These illicit e-cigarettes do not comply with UK legal regulations, meaning they could have higher nicotine concentration levels, contain banned ingredients or have oversized tanks for nicotine liquid.
It has also been found that illegal vapes can contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium.
Kate Pike, lead officer at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, told The Guardian the figures were the âtip of the icebergâ.
She said: âThere is a significant number of illegal products on the market, which does not help when we are trying to support public health response which is to ensure the products are much safer than tobacco for smokers looking to quit.
âThe main concern is that young people are getting their hands on these products⊠We do not want children or adults getting addicted to something at all like this.
âWe know that legal compliant vapes pose a fraction of the risk of smoking but we do not know what the risk is from illegal vapes.â
Earlier this month, NHS leaders sounded the alarm over a rise in the number of children admitted to hospital for vaping.
The NHS said 40 children and young people were admitted to hospital in England last year due to âvaping-related disordersâ, up from 11 two years before.
Paediatricians have also warned that âyouth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among childrenâ as they called on the Government to ban disposable vapes.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson told The Guardian: âIt is illegal to sell nicotine vapes to children and we are concerned about the recent rises in youth vaping, particularly because of the unknown long-term harms.
âWe are taking bold action to end this practice through the ÂŁ3m Illicit Vapes Enforcement Squad, which will tackle products imported and traded illicitly, remove illegal products from the market that donât comply with our regulations, and tackle underage sales to children.
âWe have also launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vape products and explore where the government can go further.
âThe call for evidence has now closed, and the government will be considering a range of options based on the evidence provided.â