The Dangers of Concentrated Nicotine Vaping Liquid on the Health of Children and Young People.

Abstract

Concern is increasing among healthcare professionals that the use of so-called e-cigarettes might lead to a whole generation of young people in many countries who become like their forefathers of yesteryear addicted to nicotine. Recent media coverage of the problem among children and young people suggests that they are able to obtain illegal vaping devices with up to 12.5% nicotine, which is in context more than six times above the legal limit currently set at 2% nicotine (Das & Ungoed-Thomas, 2022). Data from Action on Smoking and Health, a UK public health charity that aims to eliminate the harm caused by tobacco, show that among 11–17-year olds who have tried vaping, a greater proportion have never smoked (40.1%) than smoked (35.6%) (Action on Smoking and Health, 2022). As a student nurse in the late 1960s, I remember that a significant proportion of older adult patients were given fresh enamel sputum cups on a daily basis. This was because so many of them were smokers with productive coughs irrespective of their actual admission diagnosis. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among older smokers was commonplace then and carried a high risk of mortality in addition to respiratory disability, which profoundly impacted daily life. Sputum production in the heyday of cigarette smoking ensured that most pubs, taverns, and bars would have featured a spittoon in the corner for the use of customers. The spittoon scene in the movie Back to the Future 3 where Marty McFly empties the full spittoon over Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen is a humorous COMPREHENSIVE CHILD AND ADOLESCENT NURSING 2022, VOL. 45, NO. 4, 345–348 https://doi.org/10.1080/24694193.2022.2114229