• Posted July 11, 2025

Disposable Vapes Release Toxic Metals, Lab Study Says

People using cheap disposable vape devices are likely inhaling high levels of toxic metals with every puff, a recent study says.

After a few hundred puffs, some disposable vapes start releasing levels of toxic metals higher than found in either last-generation refillable e-cigarettes or traditional tobacco smokes, researchers reported in the journal ACS Central Science.

These metals can increase a person’s risk of cancer, lung disease and nerve damage, researchers said.

“Our study highlights the hidden risk of these new and popular disposable electronic cigarettes — with hazardous levels of neurotoxic lead and carcinogenic nickel and antimony — which stresses the need for urgency in enforcement,” senior researcher Brett Poulin, an assistant professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California-Davis, said in a news release.

Earlier studies found that the heating elements of refillable vapes could release metals like chromium and nickel into the vapor people breathe.

For this study, researchers analyzed seven disposable devices from three well-known vape brands: ELF Bars, Flum Pebbles and Esco Bar.

Before they were even used, some of the devices had surprisingly high levels of lead and antimony, researchers reported. The lead appears to have come from leaded copper alloys used in the devices, which leach into the e-liquid.

The team then activated the disposable vapes, creating between 500 and 1,500 puffs for each device, to see whether their heating elements would release more metals.

Analysis of the vapor revealed that:

• Levels of metals like chromium, nickel and antimony increased as the number of puffs increased, while concentrations of zinc, copper and lead were elevated at the start.

• Most of the tested disposables released higher amounts of metals than older refillable vapes.

• One disposable released more lead during a day’s use than one would get from nearly 20 packs of tobacco cigarettes.

• Nickel in three devices and antimony in two devices exceeded cancer risk limits.

• Four devices had nickel and lead emissions that surpassed health risk thresholds for diseases other than cancer.

These results reflect only three of the nearly 100 disposable vape brands now available on store shelves, researchers noted.

“Coupling the high element exposures and health risks associated with these devices and their prevalent use among the underage population, there is an urgent need for regulators to investigate this issue further and exercise regulatory enforcement accordingly,” researchers wrote.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on the health effects of vaping.

SOURCES: American Chemical Society, news release, June 20, 2025; ACS Central Science, June 25, 2025