Confiscated vapes from County Durham and Darlington schools were found to contain too much nicotine, were too big, and were laden with toxic heavy metals when tested by police, an investigation by The Northern Echo can reveal.

Out of 35 vapes, including six seized off schoolyards in Durham and Darlington, only two were found to be legally compliant. 

Confiscated vapes from County Durham and Darlington schools were found to contain too much nicotine, were too big, and were laden with toxic heavy metals when tested by police.

As part of an ongoing investigation into the proliferation of illegal vapes in the North East, Durham Constabulary and Trading Standards at Darlington Borough Council worked together to test a bumper load of devices.

Shockingly, some of the 35 vapes they tested contained harmful compounds like lead, chromium, and acetones.

Devices test purchased by The Northern Echo as part of the newspaper's investigations into vape black markets in the region were also tested in police labs - and were shown to be highly illegal, or contain unknown chemical HRI (or 'harm reducing innovation'). 

This comes as the Royal College for Paediatrics and Child Health has said e-cigarette companies have been given "free reign" to target children with "potentially damaging products". 

Across County Durham and Darlington, law enforcement agencies are seeing illegal vapes that contain toxic carcinogen formaldehyde, and so-called "nicotine enhancer" acetaldehyde, which hooks people onto nicotine more effectively, and has been linked with lung disease and respiratory problems.

In total, Trading Standards at Darlington Borough Council tested 35 vapes; 26 seized from shops by Trading Standards officers in Darlington; six handed over to police by County Durham and Darlington schools; and three from The Northern Echo, following our investigation into the sale of illegal vapes in Durham.

Graham Hall Deputy PCC, Detective Constable Jonathan Keenan and Shaun Trevor Trading Standards and Animal Health at DBCGraham Hall Deputy PCC, Detective Constable Jonathan Keenan and Shaun Trevor Trading Standards and Animal Health at DBC (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Shaun Trevor, the manager of Trading Standards at Darlington Borough Council, explained that lab tests on vapes can determine the size of the tank, whether they contain drugs, their metal content, the degradation of the coils and if they are leaching any heavy metals into the vape liquid.

Of the six devices taken from underage school children, only one was found to be compliant with British law, as it utilised a "legal workaround", having multiple pods to circumvent the 2ml capacity limit on vapes. 

The other five were filled excessively or had higher levels of nicotine than legally permitted, and degrading components in the vapes had started to leach toxic chemicals, such as the heavy metal iron. 

Mr Trevor expressed his dismay at these findings, saying this is "pretty typical" of the vapes they have seized. 

He added that: "It is rare to come across a zero-nicotine vape that actually contains no nicotine. People think they'll be weaning themselves by cutting their vapes to half strength, and then to 'zero per cent nicotine', when really they are all full strength."

But the force and Trading Standards also acknowledged that tests are expensive, time-consuming, and still adapting to the rapidly changing market of nicotine products. 

Detective Constable Jonathan Keenan said: "We have no idea the long-term health impacts of vaping, there isn't that body of research. Finding places to test vapes has even been a challenge - there aren't many accredited places that test vapes in the UK. That research [into health impacts] is in its early stages."

He added that the illegal vape market, which has strong links with organised crime, is propped up by youth exploitation, with school children being used as vape mules. 

About the health impacts of vapes, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health VP for Policy, Dr Mike McKean, said: "That almost a fifth of teens having tried vaping is extremely worrying.

"At the end of the day, vaping is far from risk-free and very often addictive.

"I’m concerned that we have allowed e-cigarette companies free reign to target our children with these brightly coloured, flavoured, appealing and potentially damaging products. 

"The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is now a matter of urgency for the health of our children and young people."

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DC Keenan added: "Schools are screaming out for help with their students vaping, and selling vapes at school. Agencies need to join the dots, and there needs to be a national strategy for tackling this issue."

"Once [children] are hooked in by that addiction, and when they know they can make money selling these vapes on the school playground, it opens them up to the world of organised crime. 

"It's a way for county lines drug gangs to test children - if they're caught selling vapes, and don't dob in the person they got them from, they can be given cannabis to sell, and then moved onto harder drugs."