'Increasing concerns' about children vaping in Leeds spark calls for e-cigs inquiry

It comes amid growing concern about the health impacts of vaping, with one local councillor and nurse likening parts of the industry to the “wild west”. E-cigarettes have been marketed as a safer alternative to traditional smoking, but health experts say vapes still contain harmful metals.

On Tuesday, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health called for a ban on disposable vapes to protect youngsters, BBC News reported. Leeds Liberal Democrat Couns Sandy Lay and Colin Campbell both said they wanted the issue to be investigated locally.

Coun Lay, who is also an A&E nurse, said he had suggested the local authority’s children and young people scrutiny board should look at the problem in detail. Speaking at a community committee on Monday, Coun Lay, who represents Otley and Yeadon, said: “Australia has recently made vaping a prescription-only thing. Obviously most health professionals recognise that vaping is better than smoking, but it’s a wild west and there’s lots of lead and other metals in them that are not great for cancer.

“We recognise they’re better than cigarettes. The problem is young people are starting vaping, rather than giving up fags and taking up vaping. Young people tell me they’re not getting them from vaping stores. They’re getting them from the cornershop.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week hit out at “rogue firms who unlawfully target our children” with the way they advertise vaping products. It followed a BBC investigation which revealed unsafe levels of lead and nickel in a number of illegal e-cigarettes confiscated from pupils at a college in Kidderminster.

Coun Lay’s ward and party colleague, Coun Colin Campbell, said he was “increasingly concerned” about the way vaping was being “targeted at young people”. He told the same committee: “It was sold, wasn’t it, as a safe alternative to smoking? It’s not safe, it’s just not quite as bad. I know a lot of other people have expressed concerns.”