Are Disposable Vapes Safe? The disposable vape has gone down quite well with vapers, especially younger ones, ever since its market debut. With its stylish and compact designs combining with an assortment of flavor choices on trend, no wonder it’s well-loved as such.
However, some concerns over this product have followed as well. The safety of disposable vapes are lying at the very eye of the hurricane.
To clear the air, next our experts will walk you through the potential risks of a disposable vape, and how to use it safely.
Table of Contents
What are Disposable Vapes?
Disposable vapes evidently fall under the category of e-cigarettes, exactly as its fellows like box mods, pod mods, and vape pens. Apart from their easy-breezy operations and petite form factors, what makes disposable vapes most unique is the attribute of being disposable after a limited number of puffs, which could span from 400 to 5,000.
Disposable vapes have, if any, not more than one button. In most cases, there aren’t any add-ons like button or screen on disposable vaping devices. That being the case, users don’t have to go through complicated operations, such as output mode swap or coil building as they might with other types of vapes.
Disposable vapes are usually crafted to thinner cylindrical shapes, featuring marvelous portability and easier grips. The vapor they pump out tend to be looser and smoother to make for ideal MTL vaping. In a nutshell, disposable vapes are more of a gear for newcomers to vaping.
Most Common Types of Disposables
- By Puffs
Based on how many puffs do disposables offer, we can divide them into regular disposable vapes and mega disposable vapes. Only by lasting for over 1,000 puffs, a disposable vape could be referred to as a “mega” device. By far the most formidable mega disposable available in the market allows for as many as 5,000 puffs, with the minimum down to merely 400 puffs though.
Mega disposable vapes have taken by storm mainly countries and regions like America, Canada, Russia and Southeast Asia. If you’re planning to give mega devices a go, we recommend you to start off from reliable brands, like Geekbar and Elfbar. Yet the disposable vape market in Europe is still dominated by regular tiny models due to the 2ml tank capacity limit required by the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive (TPD):
“Member States shall ensure that:
(a) nicotine-containing liquid is only placed on the market in dedicated refill containers not exceeding a volume of
10 ml, in disposable electronic cigarettes or in single use cartridges and that the cartridges or tanks do not exceed a volume of 2 ml; …”
- By Functions
Although disposable vapes are initially meant for minimal operations, some manufacturers are managing to trench charging and fill ports on their products to raise the puffs. That gives rise to the latest rechargeable and refillable disposables.
Rechargeable disposable vapes, as the name suggests, allow repeated charging. They typically feature a scaled-up tank, higher-capacity battery and as a result bigger footprint, enabling somewhere between 1,000 and 4,000 puffs. Refillable disposables are sort of a step forward, further adding an refill port in the device.
As refilling is possible, this type of disposables no longer needs an expanded tank to accommodate large quantities of vape juice, and thus looks smaller than rechargeable ones. An average refillable disposable can make for about 5,000 puffs.
- By Pre-Filled E-Liquid
According to the e-liquid pre-filled in the device, disposable vapes could fall into synthetic nicotine disposables and nic salt disposables. Freebase nicotine, or regular nicotine, is rarely found in disposable vapes because it’s relatively more difficult to absorb in the blood stream.
Unlike mod vapes, disposables only produce a small amount of vapors and carry less nicotine per puff. A disposable pre-filled with freebase liquid might not be able to help users get over their cravings effectively.
Up to now, nic salt disposables still account for a vast majority. Synthetic nicotine is on the rise only very recently. Puff Labs is one of the frontrunners in loading this substance into disposable products, and has exceeded Juul in the ranking of most popular disposable vaporizers.
However, synthetic nic is very likely to confront a crackdown by the US regulators soon. They’re concerned that vape firms might use synthetic nicotine as an opportunity to outsmart regulations, given that it doesn’t belong to “tobacco” strictly speaking.
Risks of Disposable Vapes You Should Stay Aware of
A body of evidence have shown that e-cigarettes come as safer than traditional combustible cigarettes. Britain has even allowed doctors to prescribe licensed vaping products to help smokers to quit. Disposable vapes are of course no exception.
However, on the other hand, it’s true that disposable vapes are relatively new even if among experienced vapers. People have reasonable grounds to hold suspicions about their safety. Then what’re the potential risks of a disposable vape?
- Pre-Loaded E-liquid
Unlike open-system vapes into which users need to refill e-liquid, most disposables are in closed system. With e-juice pre-loaded in a sealed-up tank, there’s no way for users to pull the tank apart to check the liquid inside, unless you smash it up. Or what rests inside will just remain a mystery.
Bootleg brands might utilize the loophole to fill their disposable products with low-cost poor e-liquids. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found many unregulated juices contain considerable synthetic vitamin E acetate, which could put consumers at deadly risks.
Apart from the quality of ingredients in e-liquid, some also worry about the safety of nicotine in there. Fortunately, the chemical is only toxic in fairly large doses, that is roughly 60mg per day. The daily nicotine intake from a disposable vape by an average adult vaper is much lower than the 60mg upper limit.
- Built-In Battery
All disposable vapes employ internal batteries, which similarly run in a black box. Unlicensed brands, which are currently rife in e-commerce stores, might also seize the chance to equip their products with low-quality batteries to save costs.
Generally, a standard well-working battery would be designed with various safety measures to prevent overheat and over-pressure. However, an unlicensed battery isn’t necessarily so, and has more chance of failures. Once a battery fails, it probably leads to fires or even worse explosions.
Moreover, batteries explode for not only below-standard quality but users’ mishandling, such as overcharging. When excessive voltage flows to the battery we might damage our battery and cause overheating as well. While of course, if your device has no charging port at all, you can completely set your heart at rest on this issue.
- Illicit Counterfeits
The feature of “staying simple” makes disposable vapes not only easier to operate, but also easier to copy. Even if you’ve kept yourself away from unlicensed small sellers, you might wind up buying a counterfeit imitating products from reputable brands.
Fakes are especially rampant in integrated online vape stores. However, it doesn’t mean offline convenience stores are forever trustworthy, as some of which also put fake products on sale just to keep up with the demand.
Five Tips to Use Disposable Vapes Safely
1. Steer clear of any disposable vaping products and stores you’re not sure of.
Buying disposable vapes only from big reputable vape brands is of vital importance. In addition, you also need to be rather cautious about the platforms you place orders in, in case of counterfeits. If you’re none the wiser about which online vape stores are truly reliable, refer to the list we sorted through earlier.
2. Keep disposable vapes away from fire.
3. Avoid its direct contact with water
Be sure not to soak your device, since it may cause damages to your batteries such as short circuits.
4. Discard your disposable vape when running into issues like overheat or liquid leakage.
5. Don’t try to take apart your device without instructions from manufacturers.
It’s unwise to tear apart your disposable unless its manufacturer offers an official guide for you to follow. The major concern is that your coil might heat up by accident in the process and burn your skin.
Any Vapes, Including Disposable Ones, are Bad for Adolescents
Any vaping products, including disposables of course, could pose serious threats to teenagers. Scientific evidences demonstrate that the nicotine impairs the developing brains of teenagers.
What’s more, people who use vaping devices at their adolescence are four times more likely to turn into smokers when they come of age. Although disposable vapes are safe enough for adult vapers, they would do some harms to adolescents.
