Black market products are tempting for many, mainly because they are often cheaper than the original product. However, some black market products, such as vaping devices and kits, can be dangerous for our health, and it’s important to be aware of the risks they may pose before buying something that you either know isn’t original, or which you suspect may be.
What Exactly Are Black Market Vaping Products?
Classed as any product related to vaping that hasn’t met the required regulatory requirements that the TPD (Tobacco Products Directive) outline, and/or which fails to meet any of the quality controls that the MHRA have put in place, black market vaping products can be hazardous.
Distributed through channels that aren’t regulated – unlike quality and original vaping devices such as Elf Bar – you may be able to find black market vaping products for sale in corner shops and off-licenses, online and even on social media platforms.
Cheaply and poorly made, the wiring in such devices is often faulty with no features to promote electrical safety, and the e-liquids that fill them could be made from low quality ingredients bought in bulk that have undergone no testing.
Simply put, with black market vaping products, you never know quite what you’ll get.
What Are Some Of The Risks Commonly Associated With Black Market Vaping Products?
Let’s look at e-liquids, and the devices themselves:
E-Liquids
With no steps taken to carry out quality control or to make the ingredients of the liquid transparent, they could well contain chemicals and additives that are unsafe for regular human consumption, along with any number of bacteria present due to a lack of sterility in the manufacturing process.
Devices
Vaping devices that aren’t original are typically made by the cheapest means possible, and any technologies designed to make a product electrically safe – such as those used by reputed manufacturers – will almost certainly have been bypassed. Critical safety features such as:
- Battery venting
- Short-circuit protection
- Overcharge and over-discharge protection
- Battery monitoring
Nicotine Content And Quality
It’s also worth noting that many of the black market e-liquids and disposable vapes have nicotine strengths that go above the limit of 20mg set by the TPD. A black market disposable vape designed for 600 puffs that has been pre-filled with 20mg of nicotine, can be likened to smoking an entire pack of regular cigarettes, and they are designed to be puffed at a pace not dissimilar to that of many cigarette smokers. Naturally, this can encourage a vaper to overdose on nicotine, or become more addicted to it.
Risks Associated With Underage Vaping
In addition to the risks outlined above, is the fact that disposable vapes are a lot easier for younger people (as in those that are underage) to access. There are dangers enough in this alone, such as short and long-term brain development issues and mood disorders, without throwing illegal and potentially hazardous vaping products into the mix.
Youth vaping isn’t something that should be encouraged, and adolescent addiction to nicotine is a frightening prospect. Underage vaping may be as harmful for an adolescents health as smoking traditional cigarettes, and neither should be condoned, allowed, or encouraged.
So, the next time you’re tempted to buy a black market vaping product, stop and think about whether it’s worth it. Purchasing regulated products from reputable manufacturers such as the hugely popular Elfa pod kit, may still be harmful to your health a certain degree, but nowhere near as harmful as smoking traditional cigarettes or using illegal products sold on the black market.
