‘Bad for you’: Car gadget shows act you should never do

A driver has revealed an ‘eye-opening’ feature in his new car in a viral TikTok video.

A new Mercedes-Benz owner has been left shocked by an “insane” feature in the luxury vehicle that reveals just how “bad” vaping is for your health.

In a now-viral video, US TikTok user Sheldon, who goes by the username @thisdadtiktoks, shared how the HEPA filter in his new Mercedes-Benz “opened his eyes” to the effects of vaping on air quality.

“Oh my God, I can’t even talk,” he said the video, which has wracked up 18 million views.

“Do you want proof that vaping is bad for you? Let me show you something.”

In the clip Sheldon pans to the car’s digital screen which shows the air quality inside and outside the vehicle by recording the amount of particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 micrograms in diameter (PM2.5).

“Right now the outside air is eight, which, it’s pretty good here in Fort Worth. The inside is a one. OK, that means it’s already better than it was outside,” he explained while showing the screen.

Sheldon said the feature in his new car proves “vaping is bad for you”. Picture: TikTok@thisdadtiktoks

The video has wracked up 18 million views. Picture: TikTok@thisdadtiktoks

He then revealed what happens when a single puff of vape is exhaled in the car.

“Kevin’s going to (do) a puff of his vape and he’s going to blow it down into the floorboard like he did naturally last time,” he explained before showing the interior air quality rapidly decrease from a “good” level of 1 PM2.5 to a “very unhealthy level” of to 198 PM2.5

The air quality in his car originally measured 1 PM2.5. Picture: TikTok@thisdadtiktoks

After the vape, it reached 198 PM2.5. Picture: TikTok@thisdadtiktoks

“Oh my god, oh my god,” he said.

“You’re blowing that around with your kids in the car. Are you sh**** with me?,” he continued, before explaining the HEPA filter was working to improve the air quality.

“That was insane. I am so thankful that my car had that feature cause it just opened my eyes to the fact that that was just a little bit of vape smoke.”

University of Sydney vaping expert Associate Professor Emily Stockings said the video is a good demonstration “that this is actually what’s in the air. And yes, it can harm other people”.

“When you vape, a little the battery (inside the vape) is activating a coil. The coil is heating up the e-liquid so about 300 degrees, to the point that it becomes an aerosol,” Prof Stockings said.

“You breathe that in, and then you exhale it. So what you’re breathing in are little droplets that contain the ingredients inside the e-liquid.”

Prof Stockings said the 198 PM2.5 measure indicated there was a “high concentration of tiny droplets in the air”.

“The World Health Organization recommends that the average concentration that you should be breathing in to be safe for a day is 25 … so it’s like eight times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommendation for healthy air environments,” she said.

“So it’s bad.”

Professor Stockings said vapes – which contain propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, flavour and other chemicals – pose a health risk to the user as well as the there passengers in the car.

“Even if you’re not the one vaping, if you’re a passenger in a car, that particular matter has to go somewhere, and it’s going to go into your lungs,” she said.

“The smaller ones are very harmful because they travel really deep into your respiratory system.

“They can cause irritation, damage to your lungs, damage to your throat, to your nose and to your eyes.”

She said vape particles can linger in the air for between 15 seconds and two minutes, depending on factors such as the space you are in and the distance to the person vaping.

“Most cars that people are driving at the moment don’t have these things, and so the same thing applies even if you are at someone’s house, or even if you’re outside a restaurant, you’re sitting quite close by … if you can smell it, you’re breathing it,” Prof Stockings said.

Vapes contain propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, nicotine, flavour and other chemicals. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty

For those who do vape, Professor Stockings urged users to vape on their own away from young people.

“Young people are particularly susceptible to airborne particulate matter,” she said.

“Their respiratory tracts are smaller, they’re skinnier, and so things can get lodged in there more easily.”

In many states vaping is illegal in cars with children under a certain age.

In NSW using an e-cigarette in a car with a child under the age of 16 carries a $250 on the spot fine to the driver and any passenger who breaks the law.

In Queensland you can be hit with a $309 fine and in Victoria if you smoke or vape in a car with someone under the age of 18 you can be hit with a $909 fine.

Australia’s crackdown on vapes ramped up last month, when new laws kicked in banning all e-cigarette sales regardless of nicotine content.

As of July 1, it is illegal for retailers, such as tobacconists and vape shops to sell any type of vape.

From now until September 30 2024, all vape users will need a prescription to purchase nicotine vapes from pharmacies.

The rules will loosen from October 1 when people 18 years or over can purchase nicotine vapes directly from a pharmacy without a prescription. However, those under 18 will still need a prescription.