It may be less harmful than smoking a cigarette, but new research shows that vapes are pretty unhealthy in their own right.
Driving the news: A new study has found that flavoured vape liquids (which is pretty much all of them) can produce more than 100 toxic chemicals when inhaled, all of which can cause serious physical harm.
- The researchers — who used AI to comb through 180 different vape liquids — discovered that almost every flavour included at least one hazardous chemical.
- Exposure to these toxic chemicals is linked to a slew of health problems, including a higher risk of cancer.
Catch-up: In response to the rise in popularity of flavoured vape products, Ottawa said in 2021 that it would ban most flavours, but those regulations are still a work in progress.
- Some provinces have taken matters into their own hands. Québec, New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories have all banned flavoured vapes.
Why it matters: Canada has one of the highest teen vaping rates in the world. In Ontario, vape use has risen so rapidly among young people that the province is spending $30 million this year to install vape detectors in schools.
Bottom line: The good news is that youth vaping rates appear to be falling across Canada. The bad news: many teens are just turning to other addictive products like nicotine pouches.—LA