Fuck, how difficult could it be to create a system that heats water above evaporation temperature without releasing toxic metals in the process. Incredible.
this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2025
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They make ceramic type coil systems. Idk if they are any better.
I'm not saying vapes are good, not at all. I'm quite sure the opposite in fact. However I believe any attempt to publicly dismiss them is paid for by big tobacco
We report excessive emissions of toxic metallic elements in aerosols from flavored and “clear” versions of three popular products (Esco Bar, Flum Pebble, and ELF Bar), orders of magnitude higher in concentration than traditional cigarettes and other e-cigarettes.
So they tested more than three but found these for three in particular had problems.
They also don't compare cancer risks to the rest of the tars versus heavy metal this is metal vs metal.
Weed vapes are healthy tho right? :/
Seriously, why do these articles always bring up nicotine vapes, while simultaneously forgetting that weed vapes are a thing too?
*New study shows one brand of disposable vapes causes higher lead exposure than cigarettes
They're worse in one particular way, which isn't the most significant way that cigarettes cause harm. They're not worse overall. Vaping has been a major public-health success story, and it's odd to see people trying to discourage it with misleading headlines. The perfect is the enemy of the good here.
Yeah, i agree with you.
Just, tell me if i understand this correctly, please:
- The part of cigarettes that makes you addicted is nicotine, and the psychological habit of "smoking one" as a social ritual.
- However, nicotine is not really dangerous to your health. The smoke is what's damaging your lungs. Smoke contains half-burnt chemicals, that are acidic and corrosive, and that damages your lungs.
- Vaping uses (water) vapor instead of smoke, and since vapor is not as acidic or corrosive, it's less dangerous for your health.
- Vapes still make you addicted though, because they contain nicotine, and that's why you have to buy them over-and-over again, which means you still have the economic disadvantage of spending significant money on them.
From what I understand your spot on except for the nicotine part. Nicotine on its own right from what I understand isn't all too terrible for you, however having nicotine in ur airways keep ur lungs and throat from expelling contaminants from lungs via the cilia (hairs that push contaminants out of airways). So by the very nature of vaping or smoking, the nicotine in ur airways stops ur airways from clearing out the crap that's bad for ur lungs (for example if u smoke weed and vape, the weed smoke that's bad for u can't get out and will cause more damage than if u didn't vape). This is why when u stop vaping or smoking, after a few days to a week you tend to have coughing fits. This is ur Celia finally getting back to business and pushing nasty shit out of ur lungs after being suppressed for so long. This discovery is also why I finally quit vaping, as I quit smoking cigs for a healthier life but I was not achieving what I wanted by replacing it with vaping. Yes it's better for you, but better is relative. It's still bad for you and there's no arguing that.
Yeah except smoking rates have increased since the invention of vapes. It if was strickly people smoking cigarettes swapping to vapes then maybe we could call it a success
I think people might smoke more in total because people are stressed out more?
I don't have a study on this, but from my personal environment, i can attest that people seem to be more stressed-out, and more worried, about work and wages than 20 years ago. But i could be wrong here. Maybe it's just that i'm getting older and paying more attention to these things now.
Anyways, "more stress" would explain why people smoke more. To many, it seems to have a stress-relieving functionality, at the cost of long-term health disadvantages.
I suspect it's hopelessness. The people I saw start smoking young didn't expect to hit 80 in any way that was desirable. Cancer, lung disease, heart attacks… those are future problems, and those who don't believe themselves to have a future don't care at best and are happy to go at worst.
The thing a lot of them didn't get was that the years it takes are the ones coming soon, not the ones far off into the future.
I admit I don't see people vaping as a major problem. The harm is not so severe that it overcomes my inclination to let people make their own choices. This is especially so when the harm is not intrinsic to the act but rather the result of contamination.
You can always count on the tobacco companies to turn a useful tool into something evil.
You can always count on the ~~tobacco companies~~ massive corporations to turn a useful tool into something evil.
And they’re talking about cheap Chinese gas station vapes here. If you use quality coils, there won’t be lead at all.
They’re also a worse pollutant. Policies that favor disposable vapes over refillable ones are a travesty but ultimately disposable vapes are far more profitable for big tobacco.
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PLEASE stop using disposable vapes.
I quit cigarettes 10 yrs ago and had been exclusively using the old school refillable box mods. The kinds with big clouds, not the nic salts like disposables. I was doing fine, great even, for the last ten.
But this past year, after picking up those disposables, I kept having breathing problems. I would stop using them for like two weeks before I picked them up again. The cycle finally led to me going into atrial fibrillation, a cardiac emergency. Had to have my heart shocked. in my 30s!
I ended up quitting nicotine entirely now. it was surprisingly easy to quit! once you wanna do it, it's already done. as long as you don't mope about it and celebrate it instead. it's easier than the whiners would have you believe!
Plus those disposables create massive amounts of e-waste.
My grandfather wakes up in the hospital after his third heart attack. The Doc comes over and says "you'll need to stop smoking or else" and my grandad asked "or else what?" The Doc leaned forward and stared him dead in the eyes "Sudden death"
Apparently it worked. He said he never smoked after that
After i read "sudden death" in the smash announcer voice, i thought your grandpa was going to smack his doctor
Wow, congratulations for quitting. And thank you for spreading the message.
Can I ask: What caused you to go from refillable box to disposable? And what is the draw to them?
Great question. I used both concurrently. The reason for the disposable: accessibility.
The old school vapes are just getting harder and harder to find. I had to order parts online. The juice companies were getting shut down. I didn't want to give up my addiction, and I felt so much better on vapes than i had on cigarettes, so I figured it was fine. (Nicotine alone is a bitch to your heart, though...)
I started trying out the disposables because they were readily available. I could pick one up anywhere, I didn't have to bring juice around with me, no giant batteries or kits to maintain on the go... and in exchange a much harsher hit.
this also led to me doubling my nicotine strength. I had been using 3mg juice for ovet a year by then, but all the disposables measure out to 6mg. Nothing weaker was available. had to switch to stronger stuff on the box mod.
it pisses me off how much they enshittified vaping. it was a really cool and helpful tool that got me off of tobacco. but they started targeting it at minors. instead of rich savory flavors you get all this fruity menthol crap that middle schoolers like. you get tiny vapes with flashy blinking light and fixed high potency. you get bans on it, and regulations/fees so strict that indie vape companies that started this shit for people like me now have to shut down.
oh well. it was all a facade anyway. nicotine itself is the problem. it pushes your systems into overdrive and then wears you out on seconds, until you cant even be at homeostasis without nicotine in your system. the joy of smoking is just the temporary relief of withdrawal. it's like wearing a pair of tight shoes just so you can enjoy taking them off for 5 minutes. I'm done living my life in withdrawals. so happy to be free! (and it was honestly fucking easy, you all can do it too)
Huh, I never thought about enshitification of vapes :D
And the dosage is another thing I didn't think about. Of course, if you don't place your own liquid, you cannot control what is in it and how strong it is. The disposables need to be acceptable to most, for some it's too strong and I assume for some too weak. Or maybe they have no reason to not make it strong, so people come back.
But yes, seems to me, that convenience is the big draw, they are just there, no need for anything, pay and pull. There used to be so many vape shops everywhere, I thought they went away, because for many the novelty wore off, you say it's that big companies pushed it on kids, the regulators tried stepping in, the small shops dropped out and everyone is left with shovelware, that is worse in every way? That's sounds awful.
But it seems like there is still a way out. One can buy anything online. I'm sure in the long run it will be cheaper than disposables and then the dosage is again in the users hand. But I don't know anything about this.
You said quitting was just a matter of mind? I heard that with smoking for most it is mostly a ritualistic thing of habit and feeling. Unless you are like a chain or lung smoker, the nicotine can be overcome. But you just deciding to stop and doing it is still super impressive, good on ya.
Thank you tough for your long response, it made me think about interesting things I never thought about, which really is the best thing, that can happen to you online.
glad you found value! yes id say it's 99% mental. the withdrawal is fuckin nothing man. watch someone trembling and shaking before they get their morning vodka, or writhing in pain detoxing off heroin, or being an anxious wreck for 30 days straight when their xanax gets cut off... THAT is withdrawal.
nicotine withdrawal, on the other hand, is nothing. is a little bit of brain fog, and if you want, an excuse to be irritable and eat extra candy for 3 days. it's nothing.
once the physical detox is done you're left with a LOT of brainwashing to undo. that's the mental part. you gotta remind yourself that nicotine does nothing for you, all the benefits and advantages are lies that your addicted mind has told you to protect and perpetuate its dependency, and that you're committed to celebrating a smoke free life. that's it!
and the best part is.. . you can undo your brainwashing before you quit smoking. smoke all you want, just pay attention to the lies, set a quit date, and don't mope about it
I've been vaping type 2 cannabis for several years with a dry herb vaporizer. It's great, I have these small cartridges that I fill with herb and that's good for me for a session. It's a relatively low THC hit but it's perfect for me.
A few months ago I went to a dispensary in a neighboring state and picked up a disposable THC vape pen. It is really cool and convenient, but it can fuck. you. up. With the dry herb you've gotta pull on it very hard, especially the first hit... and that's how I hit the disposable the first time. Ruined my night.
oh you're talking about a whole different drug. yeah, the vape pens are problematic for sure. they are way too strong to be a medicinal dose.
if you're actually taking medication, you want to take exactly as much as needed to achieve the desired effects. building tolerance is one of many potential criteria for developing a substance use disorder.
the dry herb vapes are nice, though. I broke mine a while ago and have been using just a glass piece. been using CBD flower, and noticed i increased my use this past week. ironically, I think my lungs are a bit worse than when i was vaping (nicotine) lol because I'm replacing it with more smoke! oh well, can cut back on CBD too! not going back to the nicotine shackles either way. day 6 feels amazing.
The researchers tested flavored and “clear” versions of three of the most popular products — Esco Bar, Flum Pebble, and ELF Bar — and found “excessive emissions of toxic metallic elements” in the aerosols from each of them.
All three of which are from the same company. I'm not seeing any information there about where these are manufactured, but if I guessed China, I probably wouldn't be wrong.
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Since the toxins are transmitted via the aerosols: can there something be said about the effect on involuntary "passive smokers"?
if you're hooked on nicotine and you havent tried them, then give nicotine pouches a try. i switched to them from vaping and all the asthma went away overnight. plus no one knows when you've got one under your lip
Those will only make your nicotine addiction worse.
If you actually want to quit: give nicotine gum a try. Satisfies the craving and won't give you mouth cancer. I quit smoking within a month on the gum. And then another three months of tapering later I no longer needed the gum. Have been nicotine-free since 2018.
Everyone knows when you have one under your lip
ok. i've never been asked to "go outside to nicotine pouch" so whatever
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To help put things in perspective, the researchers compared the health risks of disposable e-cigarettes to other types of smoking, and found that Esco Bar devices released more lead during a day’s use than 19 packs of traditional cigarettes.
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