Toxic metals in vapes may pose major health risks for youth, study finds – National [Video]

E-cigarette products, or vapes, may contain toxic metals that are particularly harmful to children and teens, a new study has found.

The study, published Monday in the Tobacco Control journal, says vaping may increase the risk of exposure to lead, uranium and cadmium. Ingesting metals causes systemic harm to young people following not only long-term use, but short-term as well, it warns.

“An increased overall metal exposure burden has been linked to cognitive impairment, behavioural disturbances, respiratory complications, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases in children,” the study says.

Exposure to lead is associated with significant effects on cardiovascular and neurocognitive functions, it says, while cadmium exposure is linked with an increased risk of osteoporosis and cancer in the nasopharynx, lung, breast, pancreas, prostate and bladder.

The findings come as countries across the world continue to struggle with vaping’s popularity among young people, which has skyrocketed in the past five years.

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