Vaping ‘giving children breathing difficulties and lung disease’

Vaping is giving children breathing difficulties and even lung disease, a leading paediatrician has warned.

Dr Mike McKean, a paediatric respiratory consultant and vice president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said that there had been a “disturbing” rise in the number of children and young people using vapes.

He told the BBC: “We are now seeing children who are presenting to hospitals and to clinics who have got breathing problems related to vaping we believe.

“And it’s a very difficult thing to study, firstly, because it’s not been going on for too long and it’s fair to say we’re not seeing large numbers of children with severe lung disease, but it’s certainly been reported now where people have developed lung disease related to vaping.”

His comments came as the Royal College said that disposable vapes should be banned because “youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children” and that Britain was “sleepwalking into a crisis”

The Government is considering ways to prevent vaping among children.

Ministers are holding a review which will look at the ways e-cigarettes are marketed to appeal to young users, including examining the  “appearance and characteristics” of products, such as their branding, marketing, colour and flavours.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently pledged to close a loophole allowing retailers to give free samples of vapes to children in England, promising firm action to prevent the “unacceptable” targeting of children and young people.

In response to the Government consultation on e-cigarettes, which closed on Tuesday, the Royal College warned of a lack of evidence on the long-term impacts of such products on young lungs, hearts and brains.

Dr McKean said: “Without a doubt, disposable e-cigarettes should be banned. There is absolutely no reason that these cheap, readily available, brightly coloured, recreational products should be single-use.

“Youth vaping is fast becoming an epidemic among children, and I fear that if action is not taken, we will find ourselves sleepwalking into a crisis. Westminster’s approach to this problem is out of step with even our closest neighbours, with countries such as Scotland, France, Germany, and Ireland all seriously considering a ban.”

Dr McKean, a respiratory consultant for 21 years, said children must be protected from the dangers.

“What we do know is that these products are not risk-free, are likely to be damaging for developing young lungs and are also terrible for our environment,” he said.

The College said e-cigarettes “can be just as addictive, if not more so than traditional cigarettes”.

It is calling for urgent action to protect youngsters, saying experts agree that longer-term data is needed on the effects of vaping, particularly in regard to cardiovascular disease.

“However, since e-cigarettes have only been on sale in the UK since 2007, long-term studies don’t yet exist,” it said.

“We have even less evidence on the long-term impacts of these products on young lungs, hearts and brains.

“It took experts decades to fully understand the impact of traditional cigarettes, we cannot risk our children’s health in waiting this long again for longer-term studies.”

In May, data for Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) showed there has been a 50 per cent rise in the last year in Britain in the proportion of children trying vaping.

Disposable vapes appear to be the e-cigarette of choice among youngsters, while purchases of vapes are mostly made from corner shops.

It is illegal to sell vapes to under-18s but social media carries posts from teenagers showing vapes and discussing flavours such as pink lemonade, strawberry, banana and mango.

Ash also called for a £5 tax on disposable vapes, doubling the price of some to make them less affordable for children.

Regarding its evidence to ministers, Deborah Arnott, Ash’s chief executive, said it called for tougher regulations last year but was ignored.

“Now that the Prime Minister is convinced, perhaps action will finally be taken,” she said.

Ash said it does not support a complete ban on disposable vapes at this time, believing it will drive “the illicit market thereby making it harder not easier to ensure products are recycled”.

It also said it recognises that disposable vapes may have a role to play for some groups of particularly disadvantaged smokers.

Prof Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer has previously criticised the “appalling” marketing of vapes to children - saying the Government “should be much more serious” in doing “everything we can” to reduce vaping among the young.

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said it wanted to see underage vaping tackled but said “banning single use vapes is not the answer” .

John Dunne, UKVIA Director General said: “There is no doubt that strong, targeted action directed at those illegally selling vape products to children is the way forward. Vitally, any youth prevention measures cannot be to the detriment of adult smokers looking to quit through vaping and vapers who want to avoid a return to smoking.”