Since December Baltimore County Health Department and Kenwood’s Nurse Myers have been sharing information to warn youth and others about recent harmful, negative reactions people have experienced from vaping products.
“Vaping exposes a smoker to less toxic chemicals than smoking cigarettes so people think it is a safer choice, but it is just as addictive because it contains nicotine and vaping still contains toxic chemicals that are harmful to your heart and lungs. Black market cartridges for vape pens often times contain unknown toxic chemicals that can be deadly. These toxic chemicals can be ANYTHING and the smoker has no idea what they are inhaling!” shares Kenwood’s Nurse Myers.
Vaping is a big topic in the world, mainly among the youth. Vaping involves inhaling aerosol from an electric cigarette, often as an alternative to smoking. While it reduces exposure to tobacco toxins, health risk and nicotine addictions remain concerns, especially among youth (Baltimore County Health Department).
Some might wonder why are today’s youth influenced to use these vapes? The common thinking is often placed on the marketing of the “new cool flavors they always advertise”.
According to The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, “As of June 2024, nearly 6,300 different e-cigarette products are available for purchase in the United States. Disposable e-cigarettes in youth-appealing flavors are the most commonly sold devices.”
Now what is actually harmful about vaping and E-cigarette and why should people stay away from them? The substance is not just harmless “water vapor”. The flyer from the health department that KHS Nurse Myers has been posting and sharing around the building reminds people, “Some things that can be found in vapes are things like nicotine, which is an highly addictive chemical that can harm the brain, cancer causing chemicals, heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead, and tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs.”
There is currently concern as the recent health notice states, that vape products are containing more toxic products like Delta-8, Hemp, Spice, Black magic, Skunk, Demon, Smoke, Fire, and etc. An anonymous source also adds though, “Stores are advertising that their vapes are free of these products but they’re really not.” This makes it difficult to know which substances e-cigarettes actually contain. For example, some e-cigarettes marketed as containing zero percent nicotine have been found to contain nicotine which is misleading to consumers according to a recent report by the CDC.
The Baltimore County Department of Health has received different reports of people, including the youth being hospitalized after using vape products that may contain cannabis and related substances, such as delta-8 and hemp.
It is imperative to stress and pass along the message to youth and others to be be careful when sharing vapes, as they may constrain unknown substances or other dangerous products.
Many vapors and liquids that go inside of vape products are not regulated by the FDA. They may result in illness and, in extreme cases, death. If you or someone you know has been impacted by these vaping devices, you should contact mdpoision.com/aboutus/contact to receive the help you need.
All youth are encouraged to stay away from vapes at such a young age because your lungs are still developing and by using these vaping products it weakens the lungs and can cause serious damage to you later on in life, which is why everyone should stay away from vaping products.
