THE MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY STUDY INTO THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF VAPING COMES AS A GOVERNMENT BAN ON SINGLE-USE VAPES COMES INTO FORCE 08:00, 31 May 2025Updated 10:47, 01 Jun 2025

As the government’s ban on single-use vapes comes into force, new research has cast fresh doubts on their safety - with a bombshell study warning e-cigs may be as dangerous to people's

long term health as cigarettes, and perhaps even worse because of how vapes are used. The move to outlaw disposable vapes follows mounting concern over the rise in teen vaping. Starting from

tomorrow, it will be illegal for businesses in the UK to sell or supply the vapes, regardless of whether they contain nicotine, and covers both in-store and online sales. But leading

Boidin will present the findings of his two-year study at Manchester Metropolitan University at a sport science conference in Rimini, Italy, in July. But, as revealed exclusively by the

Mirror, his research already shows that vaping poses the same risks to health than traditional cigarettes, increasing the risk of dementia, heart disease, and organ failure for long-term

users. And he believes the damage of vaping could be even worse because because of how much harder it is to control. Article continues below He says: “Smokers tend to go outside and smoke,

and once a cigarette is finished they have to light up another to keep going. But with vapes, you just keep going and it’s much harder to know how many puffs you’ve had. It’s much easier to

vape continuously because you can do it in places where smoking might be less acceptable.” Inhaling nicotine vapour from E-cigarettes has been described by the NHS as “substantially less

harmful than smoking” and is considered a safer way for people to give up smoking. But Dr Boidin's work may change the accepted health advice and lead to more calls for a blanket ban,

with vapes available on prescription only. Monitoring the health of different groups of volunteers, he was shocked to find that the arteries in both vapers and smokers suffer similar levels

of damage - a sign of future cardiovascular problems as arteries narrow, restricting the flow of blood to vital organs. Speaking to the Mirror, Dr Boidin said tomorrow's ban on

disposable vapes is a "step in the right direction" which will help make vapes less accessible for teenagers and reduce the effects on the environment. He said: "These

products primarily target younger individuals, whereas older adults tend to use refillable options. From a health perspective, the ban should reduce access among the younger population, as

refillable vapes are generally more expensive and less accessible. "From an environmental standpoint, we frequently see single-use vapes - and their packaging - littering pavements.. In

the end, the ban is a step in the right direction, but it represents only a small part of the broader educational and cultural change that’s needed." During the study at the

university’s Institute of Sport, participants - aged between 18 to 45, with an average age of 27 and similar levels of fitness and physical activity - were given regular stress tests to

measure the elasticity of their blood vessels and the speed of blood flow to their brains. For 12 hours prior to testing, they consumed only water and desisted from vaping, smoking and

exercise. According to Dr Boidin, the mediated dilation (FMD) test, in which a cuff is placed on the participant’s arm and inflated to restrict the blood flow, before being released to

measure how much the artery expands as more blood is passed through it, produced the starkest results. If you can't see the poll, click HERE Smokers and vapers achieved a flat reading,

signalling damaged artery walls that can no longer dilate - an almost certain sign of future serious cardiovascular problems. Further tests proved that the blood flow in smokers and vapers

is similarly impaired, making them at risk of developing cognitive dysfunction, including dementia. Dr Boidin, senior lecturer in cardiac rehabilitation, believes the damage is due to

inflammation caused by nicotine, as well as the metals and chemicals found in vapes, which include propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine. Substances in the chemical flavourings, such as

carbonyl compounds, are known to cause inflammation and oxidative stress, which can lead to damage to the artery's inner wall and cell death. He says: “When you put this mixture of

metals and chemicals into your body you can’t expect nothing to happen.” Shocked by his own findings, he adds: “What we have found is the dangers for someone who keeps vaping are no

different from smokers. “At the beginning (of the study) I also believed that vaping was more beneficial than smoking. You see a lot more people vaping these days because they don’t think

it’s too bad. Many will be horrified to know the truth.” Vaping use in the UK has exploded since the first electronic cigarettes arrived here in 2005. There are now 5.1 million people aged

16 or over in Britain - about one in ten - using vapes, according to figures last year from the Office for National Statistics. Vaping rates were highest among those aged 16 to 24, at 15.8%.

Shockingly, Professor Rachel Isba found that she was seeing children as young as 11 years old coming to her clinic at Alder Hey Hospital with an addiction to vaping. She told Sky News:

"Some of the young people vape before they get out of bed. They are sleeping with them under their pillow. "I'm hearing stories of some children waking up at three

o'clock in the morning, thinking they can't sleep, thinking the vape will help them get back to sleep. Whereas, actually, that's the complete opposite of how nicotine

works." One million people in England now vape, despite never having been regular smokers, a seven-fold increase in three years, according to a University College London study published

in The Lancet Public Health Journal. One of the study volunteers, Adam Petrulevic, a 25-year-old master's student studying strength and conditioning at the university, says he vapes

“without stopping”. “I never really smoked, but I started vaping two years ago,” he says. “I always thought it was much less harmful than smoking. “I take a puff every few minutes and only

stop when I go to sleep. A 500-puff vape used to last me a few days but now it’s not even a day. Now I’m on 3,500-puff vapes which should be more than a week, but I finish them in three

days.” A volunteer known only as Marine, 33, started vaping three years ago to wean herself off smoking and uses a heated tobacco device. She says: “I didn't smoke in the house but now

I vape all day long. I decided to take part in the study because I wanted to know what it was doing to me. I’ve noticed that I’m out of breath more, I feel that it’s not so good for my

health.” Both volunteers were alarmed by Dr Boidin’s negative findings. Adam says: “It’s definitely an incentive for me to stop.” Many will have been convinced that taking up vaping won’t be

prejudicial to their health, thanks to oft-repeated advice, including from Public Health England, which states that “vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking”. The agency,

however, admits that “evidence is mostly limited to short and medium term effects and studies assessing longer term vaping are necessary.” That advice has not changed despite recent scares,

including the tragic death this year of Hollyoaks star Paul Danan, aged 46, who months earlier revealed how he had to be revived after suffering respiratory failure caused by excessive

vaping. Other shocking cases have emerged of collapsed lungs, fainting or vomiting of ominous green liquid, linked to heavy vaping. Dr Boidin says he also has evidence that vaping impairs

people’s levels of fitness, even in young vapers. He believes vaping can actually be more dangerous than smoking because it’s much harder to know when to stop. “Smokers tend to go outside

and smoke, and once a cigarette is finished they have to light up another to keep going. But with vapes you just keep going and it’s much harder to know how many puffs you’ve had.” Marine

adds: “I’m going to quit. I never expected vapes to be as bad as cigarettes.” The Government has announced that disposable vapes - colourfully packaged devices that come in candy-like

flavours and have been blamed for an increase in teenage users - will be banned from June. But Dr Boidin says all vapes should only be available on prescription in Britain, to avoid a

“health emergency.” He says: “The only benefit of vaping is to help people quit smoking, but if they keep vaping the result is going to be the same. I think doctors should be able to

prescribe vapes for a certain time, so they could be used as a transition tool, but only for a short time. “We now know the long-term effects of vaping, and if we don’t act now we will see a

health emergency in the next ten, 15 years.” Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central who has called for tighter restrictions on vapes, says: “This study adds to the body of evidence

that vaping can cause significant harm to a person. The government should take stricter measures in ensuring that vapes are only accessible to people who currently smoke as a smoking

cessation intervention.” Article continues below But Dr Marina Murphy, scientific spokesperson for the UK Vaping Industry Association, dismissed the study’s findings, saying: “Millions of

people have been using vaping products safely for many years. All the available data suggests that vapes are unlikely to exceed 5% of the health risks associated with cigarettes.”