Disposable e-cigarettes are more toxic than traditional cigarettes, researchers say

Lead and other harmful metals linked to cancer were found in disposable e-cigarettes

Disposable electronic cigarettes that are popular with teenagers are more toxic than traditional cigarettes, researchers cautioned on Wednesday.

Researchers from the University of California at Davis found that, following a few hundred puffs, some vape pods and other e-cigarettes emit higher amounts of toxic metals than traditional cigarettes.

One of the e-cigarettes they studied released more lead during the course of a day than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes. In humans, exposure to lead has been shown to result in reproductive issues, high blood pressure, hypertension, nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, and memory and concentration problems in adults. In children, it can lead to hearing problems, slowed growth, headaches, learning and behavioral difficulties, lowered IQ, and damage to the brain and nervous system.

“Our study highlights the hidden risk of these new and popular disposable electronic cigarettes — with hazardous levels of neurotoxic lead and carcinogenic nickel and antimony — which stresses the need for urgency in enforcement,” Brett Poulin, an assistant professor at the university’s Davis Department of Environmental Toxicology, said in a statement. “These risks are not just worse than other e-cigarettes but worse in some cases than traditional cigarettes.”

Poulin was the senior author of the findings, which were published in the journal ACS Central Science.

To reach these conclusions, the scientists analyzed the metal and elements that exhibit properties of metals in seven types of disposable devices from three of the most popular brands. The brands they listed included Esco Bar, FLUM Pebble, and ELFBAR.

The researchers activated the e-cigarettes and created between 500 and 1,500 puffs per device tested.

The authors found that some devices emitted “surprisingly high” concentrations of lead and antimony, that levels of chromium, nickel, and antimony increased as the number of puffs increased, and that most of the disposable e-cigarettes tested released markedly higher amounts of metals and metalloids into vapors than earlier and refillable vapes.

Antimony is used in flame retardant, chromium is used in the production of stainless steel, and nickel is used in appliances and rechargeable batteries. Antimony is a hazardous substance that can cause dizziness, nausea, vomiting, liver and kidney damage, and a hole in the septum. Chromium exposure is also linked to kidney and liver damage, as well as respiratory cancer and perforated eardrums. Nickel can cause a variety of side effects on human health, such as allergy, cardiovascular and kidney diseases, lung fibrosis, and lung and nasal cancer. There are other chemicals in e-cigarettes that also may cause cancer.

Then, the researchers took the devices apart, hoping to trace the sources of the metals.

Disposable e-cigarettes, or vape pods, are more toxic than traditional cigarettes, researchers warned. One of the e-cigarettes they studied released more lead during the course of a day than nearly 20 packs of traditional cigarettes (Kat Kerlin/UC Davis)

They saw that components in some devices that were made of leaded bronze alloy had leached into e-liquids in the cartridges and that nickel was being released from heating coils. Antimony was also in the unused e-liquids.

“We found that these disposable devices have toxins already present in the e-liquid, or they’re leaching quite extensively from their components into e-liquids and ultimately transferred to the smoke,” Mark Salazar, a Ph.D. candidate in Poulin’s lab and the study’s first author, explained.

For daily users, vapors from three devices had nickel levels and two devices had antimony levels that exceeded cancer risk limits. Four of the devices had nickel and lead emissions that surpassed health-risk thresholds for illnesses besides cancer, such as neurological damage and respiratory diseases.

E-cigarette use has been tied to lung injuries, with more than 2,800 hospitalizations and 68 deaths reported between the summer of 2019 and February 2020, according to Yale Medicine.

Although most disposable e-cigarettes are illegal in the U.S., they remain available. Last week, the Supreme Court sided with companies in a ruling making it easier to sue over Food and Drug Administration decisions blocking their products from the market.

High levels of metals, including lead, were found in the devices. Lead exposure comes with a host of negative health effects (Kat Kerlin/UC Davis)

ELFBAR and Esco Bar have been the focus of Food and Drug Administration scrutiny. ELFBAR’s website says it is not available in the U.S. and FLUM is illegal under California’s retail flavor ban. To date, 34 tobacco- and menthol-flavored e-cigarette products and devices have been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.

An ELFBAR spokesperson told The Independent that the company refutes the results of the study and any claim that their products are available in the U.S., noting that they had ceased shipments to America in May 2023 and have been in a trademark lawsuit preventing the brand from marketing and selling ELFBAR-branded products to U.S. consumers since 2022.

“This market void has led to a surge in counterfeits, imitations, and illicit variations misusing our brand name. As such, we have every reason to believe the devices tested in this study are not genuine and were not manufactured by ELFBAR, making it inaccurate and irresponsible to claim the findings reflect ELFBAR products,” the spokesperson said.

They added that e-cigarettes are not risk-free, but widely recognized as harm-reduction tools for smokers, offering an alternative to combustible cigarettes.

“Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease worldwide. This latest defamation against the e-cigarette category continues to undermine public understanding of smoking cessation, and shows nothing but irresponsibility and academic arrogance,” the spokesperson said.

FLUM and Esco Bar did not immediately reply to The Independent’s requests for comment.

The majority of e-cigarette consumers are teens and young adults, including 1.63 million students, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Like regular cigarettes, most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm the parts of an adolescent's brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.

Last year, however, use among youth plummeted to the lowest level in a decade.

Still, the risks associated with using e-cigarettes remain, and young adults are at increased risk of lead exposure. The researchers noted that the market is outpacing science, heightening the need to enforce regulations around illegal e-cigarettes.

“Pediatric tobacco use and nicotine dependence are significant health concerns. Despite declines in cigarette use, youth still use tobacco products—including e-cigarettes—at high rates,” the American Academy of Pediatrics stresses.