(Bloomberg) — About one million adults who were not regular smokers have now taken to vaping in England, according to a new study, as concerns rise around the world about the health impact of addictive e-cigarettes.
The rate of vaping among adults without a smoking history remained stable and low at 0.5%, or one in 200, from 2016 to 2020. But changed after 2021 when disposable vapes became popular, according to the study published in Lancet Public Health this week.
England saw a rapid increase in vaping among this group, with the rate reaching one in every 28 as of April this year, the University College London study said. Researchers relied on data collected between 2016 and 2024 from 153,073 adults in England. Of them, 94,107 had never regularly smoked tobacco — showing the increase was largely driven by young adults and people with higher alcohol consumption level.
One in seven people aged 18 to 24 who never regularly smoked are now using e-cigarettes, the study found. There has also been a noticeable increase in the proportion using disposable devices.
“These findings are a reminder that action is required to try to minimize vaping among young people,” according to Jamie Brown, the study’s co-author and professor at UCL Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care. “Banning disposables, as the UK government currently plans, is unlikely to fix the issue as popular brands have already launched reusable products with very similar designs and prices.”
Although e-cigarettes don’t contain cancer-causing tobacco, they contain nicotine and aren’t risk-free. While the long-term effects of vaping are still being discovered, they’re known to bring on nausea, vomiting, mouth and airway irritation, chest pain and palpitations.
While some adults use vaping as a way to quit the more harmful cigarette smoking, public health experts and the World Health Organization have warned about the dangers of the habit, especially as the nicotine industry now targets young adults using creative ways like flavoured products and portraying vaping as a fun and safe pastime.
“A sensible next step would be to introduce stricter regulation around product appearance, packaging and marketing,” Brown said.