What’s Really in Vermont’s Vapes?
What’s Really in Vermont’s Vapes?
PHRR is testing hundreds of vape devices collected from schools across Vermont to measure lead and other heavy metals
Independent testing of hundreds of vape devices collected from schools across Vermont will measure lead and other heavy metals—bringing critical, publicly accessible evidence to students, families, and communities.
The FDA has never required any vape company to reveal to the public, what concentrations of lead, or other heavy metals their devices produce.
Due to research at Johns Hopkins and the University of California, Davis, we know now that vapes produce heavy metals, such as lead. Sometimes the lead is in concentrations that are known to do harm to both children and adults.
In 2025-2026 We have gathered vapes from schools in Vermont, from the following counties.
Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille, Orleans, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windsor, and Windam. We have hundreds of vapes, from many different manufacturers.
They have been cataloged, and delivered to the University of Vermont, and will be tested late summer, early Fall, of 2026. We will publish the results here, and in scientific journals. Our model for this type of research is the work done by Consumer Reports, around lead levels seen in different brands of chocolate.
This is work that should be being done by the FDA. Currently, the FDA lets vape companies submit their own data about levels of lead and other heavy metals, and does not share those results with the public. According to the CDC, no amount of lead is safe. The minimum that the FDA should do, is publish levels of lead seen in every brand and model.
All these levels of lead and other heavy metals should be compared to the levels seen in a Nicorette inhaler, which is saving lives in Canada, and is not available for sale in the United States.
What Can Be Learned From Analyzing A Collection Of Confiscated Vapes?
| WS Coolants | May contribute to understanding of why Geek and Raz Bars have been involved in deaths of users through arrhythmia. | Influence of Cooling Agents on the Arrhythmogenic and Autonomic Effects of Electronic Cigarettes in an in vivo Modelhttps://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCEP.125.014253 Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2024 Mar 18;86(5):3042–3046. doi: 10.1097/MS9.0000000000001907A case report of vaping-associated sudden cardiac arrest in a young healthy patientHasaan Ahmed a,*, Mahmoud Ismayl b, Anirudh Palicherla a, Joshua May a, Andrew M Goldsweig c, Joseph Thirumalareddy PMCID: PMC11060229 PMID: 38694286 |
| Acetate Flavors | Vapes use acetate flavors that biochemically alter neural circuits, which makes nicotine more addictive than it already is. If all the vapes are using these addiction enhancing agents, that important information for consumers and regulators to kn0w. | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022356525398642?via%3Dihub |
| Presence of 6-methyl nicotine products | 6-metyhyl nicotine appears to be 3 times more addictive and toxic than regular nicotine, and poses a public health threat. Locating where these new products are getting into the hands of children allows for both a public health and regulatory response. | The rise of nicotine analogues in vaping products https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(25)00296-6/fulltext |