Wow, it’s so cool to breathe in poisonous and cancerogenous chemicals, be dependent on going outside every 30 minutes (or stinking up a house) to fulfill a completely useless need and pay a lot of money for it in the process. :P
I am a bit disappointed in today’s youth, to be honest. I distinctly remember my high school years (graduation 2013, almost zero smokers) where smoking was uncool and pretty much constrained to the ‘lower class’ people.
Fun fact: Vapes are banned in China (only ones with tobacco flavour are allowed, given they know how addictive the other flavours are for the youth), yet China is the largest producer of vapes in the world. In this aspect, I agree with the Chinese government.
I dread the long-term effects we will see in the next decades. The main vape liquid ingredient, propylene glycol, has already been shown not only to affect lung tissue, but also to lead to a multitude of gastrointestinal problems under prolonged exposure. While I think vaping is not as unhealthy as smoking, I notice people vape much more casually in constrained places like the bus, which exposes me as a non-smoker to these substances in relation much more than tobacco smoke, which is generally accepted to be produced outside.
Wow, it’s so cool to breathe in poisonous and cancerogenous chemicals
[vaping] exposes me as a non-smoker to these substances in relation much more than tobacco smoke, which is generally accepted to be produced outside.
Secondhand cigarette smoke is carcinogenic. There is no evidence suggesting propylene glycol, nicotine, or other common vape additives are carcinogenic. Coming from a cigar smoker: maybe be more accepting of the one that isn’t giving you cancer and doesn’t have evidence for harm.
How many centuries did it take for cigarettes to be proven to be cancerogenous/harmful? I can list many things, like Asbestos, Azo dyes, microplastics, etc. etc. How long have vapes been around widely? 10 years? This is by far not enough time to assess long-term health effects. Asbestos often takes 20-40 years to cause cancer, just to give an example.
I mentioned in my comment that I agree that cigarettes are most likely more harmful overall, but with the vapes it’s still largely unknown. The twist is that vapes are used in closed rooms almost universally, and I often get caught behind people walking or at the bus stop or train station.
I’d urge anybody considering this sort of thing to familiarise themselves with the technology first. https://hackaday.com/2022/05/05/2022-hackaday-prize-disposable-vape-pens-turned-project-parts/ is a good start, since it has links to other articles by the same author (Arya Voronova) and others which deal with the topics of safely charging a LiPo battery and subsequently safely drawing power from it.
My warning is particularly targeted at older engineers and technicians, since many things one thinks one knows about batteries- lead-acid, NiCd/NiMH and so on- are either irrelevant or downright dangerous when it comes to Lithium.
Very cute project, but leaves me with many more questions than answers (and a sincere hope that people don’t try to replicate this). Out of curiosity, I checked and no recyclers in my local area accept vapes because of the combination lithium and biohazard. I also couldn’t find any nearby shops with recycling programs. Genuinely feels like there’s nothing that can be done about this :(
It saddens me to read the negativity of other comments? Why hoping no one replicates this? If anything, the very reason whe ended up where we are is that people don’t do more or this. This is shining a super bright light that we are too far gone on the mindset of everything being disposable and just buy new, don’t even think of fixing it.
This video got over a million views. For the awareness it has risen alone, it has already been worth it.
It has been a long time since I saw an interesting hardware project reclaiming used parts. Good work!
Well, maybe not no one, but I suspect that the vast majority of those million viewers probably weren’t people I’d trust to do this safely without risking turning their interesting hardware project into an improvised incendiary device.
Lithium batteries have a variety of possible failure modes that aren’t necessarily obvious but they all typically end in overheating and possibly a fire. If you’re “lucky” it will happen while you’re working on it and are likely to be able to control it quickly. If you aren’t it will happen later while charging unattended and burn your house down.
Jesus, mate! Take a chill pill. Isn’t the sole reality of the numbers presented in the beginning of the video a human scale tragedy per se already? Why this obsession with the hypothetical case some one replicates it without basic knowledge of it? Surely that would be their fault, their stupidity and ultimately them who would suffer the consequences?
I don’t know how to say this nicely, the mindset of hyper idiot proofing anything is so boring. Just enjoy the video. If anything I am sure it inspires more people to do something constructive and to be more mindful. Why not focusing on that instead?
Several kids have lost hands to DIY with lion batteries already. There is a reason these things are controlled. We do not let people run around with orphan source either.
You do not need to be “stupid” or “idiot” to badly hurt yourself and others with this.
The evidence suggests vaping is incredibly safer than cigarette smoking for the individual and individuals around them, including young children. Nicotine pouches or gum is an improvement on risk for nicotine products, but cigarettes are far worse for the smoker and everyone around them.
Well, everything’s safer than something else. Perfect is the enemy of good, and safe is the enemy of safer. There’s a point where one’s pleasure, or freedom, or human rights should outweigh another’s will to stop one putting something into one’s body that’s harmless (see: no evidence for harm) (including when it’s secondhand).
To be fair, flavored vapes are illegal here too, everything is age-restricted, and the expenditure on smoking-related health issues is about a quarter of the income from tobacco taxes. Then there’s the saved pensions you don’t gotta pay people who died.
Live and let live (or die of emphysema), no one who could believably buy vapes or smokes thinks it’s safe. Some may even stay casual or eventually quit!
…no one who could believably buy vapes or smokes thinks it’s safe.
Here (in Canada) most vapers I have met (sample size=~5) consider vaping to be safe. Also, most of them use it to smoke marijuana, not nicotine, and that adds to their belief that its safer. I am not inclined to believe its safe, but I haven’t done the research, and there is nothing openly publicized about vaping being dangerous…so I can easily see why someone would believe it is safe.
People are also less cautious about their second hand smoke when vaping. Again, as a non-smoker, I don’t commonly see well-publicized information about second-hand smoke from vapes being dangerous.
On the other hand, information about cigarettes and second-hand smoke from cigarettes is super common.
Live and let live (or die of emphysema)…
Right, I think the issue is that stuff like vaping or smoking is enabled ultimately not because there are people who genuinely want to vape or smoke, but because there is a “business opportunity” in making such devices (relatively) cheaply available.
So your comment really should be “live, and let others sell cigarettes/vapes”.
The problem with doing this is: who bears the costs? Environmental or health costs? Not the cigarette/vape makers, but ultimately the public taxpayer and the animals, plants, fishes, and humans that are around wherever old/discarded LiPo batteries go to die.
Here (in Canada) most vapers I have met (sample size=~5) consider vaping to be safe. Also, most of them use it to smoke marijuana, not nicotine, and that adds to their belief that its safer.
Finland here, and nothing about this seems to make sense. I would have skipped replying if this made more sense.
Canada has an image of being quite informed, similar to but not as strict as eg. Australia. And marijuana isn’t that “bad” if you don’t mix it with tobacco. Allegedly. It’s illegal here.
who bears the costs? Environmental or health costs? Not the cigarette/vape makers, but ultimately the public taxpayer and the animals, plants, fishes, and humans that are around wherever old/discarded LiPo batteries go to die.
Dunno what the tax rates there are nor do I care. Here the gov makes such fuck-you money compared to the costs that any attempts at bans will lead to raising other taxes for everyone, and these policy questions are even worse OT. Maybe smokers who refuse to die should get unimaginable tax returns.
I do concur batteries don’t believe in nature. People who don’t recycle should be incentivized.
Thank you for avoiding the “I don’t like it when people have agency I don’t agree with” line.
Here (in Canada) most vapers I have met (sample size=~5) consider vaping to be safe. Also, most of them use it to smoke marijuana, not nicotine, and that adds to their belief that its safer.
There’s a very big difference, fwiw, between vaporising plant material and liquid vapes (such as disposable ones). If your friends are vaporising cannabis flower, it is thought to be reasonably safe, effects of cannabis itself notwithstanding. It’s very different to burning it (like smoking it in a joint or whatever, since then you get all the combustion products), and to the liquid ones (which add a bunch of substances to make it into an easily vaporisable liquid, which are the source of much contention since the health effects are unknown; propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, alpha-tocopherol).
It’s kind of fucked up that we only made smoking cool again by adding ewaste to it…
Wow, it’s so cool to breathe in poisonous and cancerogenous chemicals, be dependent on going outside every 30 minutes (or stinking up a house) to fulfill a completely useless need and pay a lot of money for it in the process. :P
I am a bit disappointed in today’s youth, to be honest. I distinctly remember my high school years (graduation 2013, almost zero smokers) where smoking was uncool and pretty much constrained to the ‘lower class’ people.
Fun fact: Vapes are banned in China (only ones with tobacco flavour are allowed, given they know how addictive the other flavours are for the youth), yet China is the largest producer of vapes in the world. In this aspect, I agree with the Chinese government.
I dread the long-term effects we will see in the next decades. The main vape liquid ingredient, propylene glycol, has already been shown not only to affect lung tissue, but also to lead to a multitude of gastrointestinal problems under prolonged exposure. While I think vaping is not as unhealthy as smoking, I notice people vape much more casually in constrained places like the bus, which exposes me as a non-smoker to these substances in relation much more than tobacco smoke, which is generally accepted to be produced outside.
Secondhand cigarette smoke is carcinogenic. There is no evidence suggesting propylene glycol, nicotine, or other common vape additives are carcinogenic. Coming from a cigar smoker: maybe be more accepting of the one that isn’t giving you cancer and doesn’t have evidence for harm.
How many centuries did it take for cigarettes to be proven to be cancerogenous/harmful? I can list many things, like Asbestos, Azo dyes, microplastics, etc. etc. How long have vapes been around widely? 10 years? This is by far not enough time to assess long-term health effects. Asbestos often takes 20-40 years to cause cancer, just to give an example.
I mentioned in my comment that I agree that cigarettes are most likely more harmful overall, but with the vapes it’s still largely unknown. The twist is that vapes are used in closed rooms almost universally, and I often get caught behind people walking or at the bus stop or train station.
By the way, I like the smell of cigars, enjoy!
I’d urge anybody considering this sort of thing to familiarise themselves with the technology first. https://hackaday.com/2022/05/05/2022-hackaday-prize-disposable-vape-pens-turned-project-parts/ is a good start, since it has links to other articles by the same author (Arya Voronova) and others which deal with the topics of safely charging a LiPo battery and subsequently safely drawing power from it.
My warning is particularly targeted at older engineers and technicians, since many things one thinks one knows about batteries- lead-acid, NiCd/NiMH and so on- are either irrelevant or downright dangerous when it comes to Lithium.
Very cute project, but leaves me with many more questions than answers (and a sincere hope that people don’t try to replicate this). Out of curiosity, I checked and no recyclers in my local area accept vapes because of the combination lithium and biohazard. I also couldn’t find any nearby shops with recycling programs. Genuinely feels like there’s nothing that can be done about this :(
Lovely engineering work!
It saddens me to read the negativity of other comments? Why hoping no one replicates this? If anything, the very reason whe ended up where we are is that people don’t do more or this. This is shining a super bright light that we are too far gone on the mindset of everything being disposable and just buy new, don’t even think of fixing it.
This video got over a million views. For the awareness it has risen alone, it has already been worth it.
It has been a long time since I saw an interesting hardware project reclaiming used parts. Good work!
Well, maybe not no one, but I suspect that the vast majority of those million viewers probably weren’t people I’d trust to do this safely without risking turning their interesting hardware project into an improvised incendiary device.
Lithium batteries have a variety of possible failure modes that aren’t necessarily obvious but they all typically end in overheating and possibly a fire. If you’re “lucky” it will happen while you’re working on it and are likely to be able to control it quickly. If you aren’t it will happen later while charging unattended and burn your house down.
In addition, you have the big sponge soaked in liquid nicotine, which is poisonous and absorbs through skin
Jesus, mate! Take a chill pill. Isn’t the sole reality of the numbers presented in the beginning of the video a human scale tragedy per se already? Why this obsession with the hypothetical case some one replicates it without basic knowledge of it? Surely that would be their fault, their stupidity and ultimately them who would suffer the consequences?
I don’t know how to say this nicely, the mindset of hyper idiot proofing anything is so boring. Just enjoy the video. If anything I am sure it inspires more people to do something constructive and to be more mindful. Why not focusing on that instead?
This is not idiot proofing.
Several kids have lost hands to DIY with lion batteries already. There is a reason these things are controlled. We do not let people run around with orphan source either.
You do not need to be “stupid” or “idiot” to badly hurt yourself and others with this.
| Genuinely feels like there’s nothing that can be done about this :(
People could switch from trendy vapes to unfashionable cigarettes, but I share your conclusion :(
The evidence suggests vaping is incredibly safer than cigarette smoking for the individual and individuals around them, including young children. Nicotine pouches or gum is an improvement on risk for nicotine products, but cigarettes are far worse for the smoker and everyone around them.
And many will go from “well it’s safer” to “well it’s safe.”
Well, everything’s safer than something else. Perfect is the enemy of good, and safe is the enemy of safer. There’s a point where one’s pleasure, or freedom, or human rights should outweigh another’s will to stop one putting something into one’s body that’s harmless (see: no evidence for harm) (including when it’s secondhand).
To be fair, flavored vapes are illegal here too, everything is age-restricted, and the expenditure on smoking-related health issues is about a quarter of the income from tobacco taxes. Then there’s the saved pensions you don’t gotta pay people who died.
Live and let live (or die of emphysema), no one who could believably buy vapes or smokes thinks it’s safe. Some may even stay casual or eventually quit!
This off-topic elitism is frustrating AF.
Here (in Canada) most vapers I have met (sample size=~5) consider vaping to be safe. Also, most of them use it to smoke marijuana, not nicotine, and that adds to their belief that its safer. I am not inclined to believe its safe, but I haven’t done the research, and there is nothing openly publicized about vaping being dangerous…so I can easily see why someone would believe it is safe.
People are also less cautious about their second hand smoke when vaping. Again, as a non-smoker, I don’t commonly see well-publicized information about second-hand smoke from vapes being dangerous.
On the other hand, information about cigarettes and second-hand smoke from cigarettes is super common.
Right, I think the issue is that stuff like vaping or smoking is enabled ultimately not because there are people who genuinely want to vape or smoke, but because there is a “business opportunity” in making such devices (relatively) cheaply available.
So your comment really should be “live, and let others sell cigarettes/vapes”.
The problem with doing this is: who bears the costs? Environmental or health costs? Not the cigarette/vape makers, but ultimately the public taxpayer and the animals, plants, fishes, and humans that are around wherever old/discarded LiPo batteries go to die.
Finland here, and nothing about this seems to make sense. I would have skipped replying if this made more sense.
Canada has an image of being quite informed, similar to but not as strict as eg. Australia. And marijuana isn’t that “bad” if you don’t mix it with tobacco. Allegedly. It’s illegal here.
Dunno what the tax rates there are nor do I care. Here the gov makes such fuck-you money compared to the costs that any attempts at bans will lead to raising other taxes for everyone, and these policy questions are even worse OT. Maybe smokers who refuse to die should get unimaginable tax returns.
I do concur batteries don’t believe in nature. People who don’t recycle should be incentivized.
Thank you for avoiding the “I don’t like it when people have agency I don’t agree with” line.
There’s a very big difference, fwiw, between vaporising plant material and liquid vapes (such as disposable ones). If your friends are vaporising cannabis flower, it is thought to be reasonably safe, effects of cannabis itself notwithstanding. It’s very different to burning it (like smoking it in a joint or whatever, since then you get all the combustion products), and to the liquid ones (which add a bunch of substances to make it into an easily vaporisable liquid, which are the source of much contention since the health effects are unknown; propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, alpha-tocopherol).