Vaping surge a ‘health crisis’ in the making, report finds

The number of Australians aged 14 and over using vapes has more than doubled, according to a ­report that found e-cigarettes could cause seizures and lung ­injuries.

E-cigarette use in Australians aged 14 and older more than doubled between 2016 and 2019, with nearly one in five under 24 having used them.

The number of Australians aged 14 and over using vapes has more than doubled, according to a ­report that found e-cigarettes could cause seizures and lung ­injuries, prompting health groups to warn a “public health crisis is rapidly unfolding before our eyes”.

The report, released by the Australian National University on Thursday and commissioned by the Health Department, has been described as one of the most comprehensive global studies of health impacts linked to e-cigarettes ever published and details early warning signs detected in blood pressure, heart rate and lung functioning.

It follows revelations earlier this year that a 71-year-old Queensland man had died from an e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury, known as EVALI, and which is being ­increasingly detected in vape users. The report also found young non-smokers who vaped were more than three times more likely to take up cigarette smoking than non­-vapers, with health groups calling on the federal government to strengthen laws around the products.

The Morrison government in 2020 abandoned plans to ban the import of nicotine-based e-cigarettes and instead introduced legislation requiring vape users to have prescriptions for the products, which are often used to help people give up smoking.

E-cigarette devices and e-liquids were first sold commercially in China in 2003. Thousands of different products are now for sale, from nicotine-dose vapes resembling cigarettes to larger “tank” ­devices with heating coils.

A number of ingredients are used across the devices, including nicotine, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, volatile organic compounds, phenolic compounds, flavourings and even metals, with toxicological studies indicating ­exposure to these substances could result in adverse health ­effects.

More than 30 countries have banned the sale of nicotine e-cigarettes and 79 – including Australia – allow them to be sold while fully or partially regulating them. A further 84 countries don’t regulate the products at all.

E-cigarette use in Australians aged 14 and older more than doubled between 2016 and 2019, with nearly one in five under 24 having used them.

Lead report author Emily Banks said the review of e-cigarettes showed they carried “significant harms”, while their contribution to diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and mental illness was still being looked at. “Their safety for these outcomes hasn’t been established,” she said.

Professor Banks said there were “myths” regarding the safety of vapes, including that because they produced vapour rather than smoke they were not harmful.

“Vapes deliver hundreds of chemicals – some of them known to be toxic and many others with unknown effects,” she said.

“In Australia, over two million people have used e-cigarettes. Use is more common among youth, particularly young males, and among smokers, and the majority is not for the purposes of smoking cessation.”

Cancer Council public health committee chair Anita Dessaix said there was growing concern about e-cigarettes, especially in children. “A public health crisis is rapidly unfolding before our eyes,” she said.

“These findings send a clear message to all governments: act now. Do more to protect the community, especially young people, from the harms of e-cigarettes.”