The law enforcement crackdown on illegal vapes continues.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Pam Bondi, the U.S. Attorney General, made a rare joint appearance in a Chicago suburb where 600,000 illegal vape products allegedly were seized, NBC News reported.
“It’s clear many of these products are being illegally brought into America,” Bondi said at a press conference in Bensenville, Illinois, per NBC News. “They’re targeting children, young adults, college students, and even members of our military.”
“These illegal and unregulated products are not safe,” Bondi continued. “Chinese companies are making millions off these products.”
Since becoming head of HHS earlier this year, Kennedy has made cracking down on illegal vape products one of the department’s top priorities.
The result of a joint operation between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives as well as the Food and Drug Administration, officials said the seized vape products included items laced with illicit drugs as well as those containing illegal flavors, which critics have said are intended to appeal to children, per NBC News.
While Bondi and Kennedy held their press conference near Chicago, raids were carried out across six states, which also included Arizona, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and North Carolina, according to NBC.
The coordinated raids were just the latest example of governments in the U.S. and around the world cracking down on vape products.
In Washington, D.C., officials recently announced that the popular convenience-store chain 7-Eleven had agreed to pay $1.2 million in penalties over allegations that 16 of its stores had violated the District’s ban on selling vape products within a quarter mile of middle schools or high schools.
In Singapore, harsher punishments for both users and distributors of vapes went into effect Sept. 1. Those found to be selling vapes in the famously anti-drug island nation could face up to 20 years in prison.
Meanwhile, countries such as England, Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand all have instituted bans on single-use, so-called “disposable” vape products.
The moves have come amidst a growing recognition of the serious risks that vape products pose to both public health and the environment.
While vapes laced with illicit drugs such as synthetic cannabinoids and other mind-altering substances have been especially concerning, experts have warned that mainstream vapes containing nicotine are dangerous, as well, particularly for young people and pregnant women.
“There are no safe tobacco products, including e-cigarettes,” the CDC warned on its website.
Improperly disposed-of vape products pose their own risks. A study published in 2023 examined the environmental impacts of vaping devices and found that vapes often contain dangerous heavy metals like lead and mercury along with flame-retardant chemicals that are known carcinogens.
When discarded vapes end up in the environment or a landfill, these hazardous substances can leach into the soil and water supplies.
Additionally, many vaping devices contain lithium-ion batteries, which pose their own health and environmental risks. According to the group Material Focus, in 2023, the U.K. experienced 1,200 fires sparked by lithium batteries that had been improperly disposed of, an increase of 71% in just one year.
Further, in contrast to products like smartphones and electric vehicles, these batteries are not getting reused over and over again and then recycled to make new batteries.
While the 600,000 illegal vapes allegedly seized at the Illinois facility might seem like a lot, the figure represents a mere drop in the bucket when it comes to the number of vapes used in the U.S. on a daily basis.
According to the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center, Americans throw away 500,000 vape devices every single day, a figure that has continued to grow in recent years.
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