Are Elf Bars Bad for You?
It’s the question on many a vaper’s lips at the minute – are Elf Bars bad for you?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve no doubt noticed the emergence of the increasingly popular disposable vape devices. Unheard of just a year or so ago, these days products such as the in-demand Elf Bar have suddenly become the go-to choice for beginners and even experienced vapers in need of something quick and convenient.
But sadly, with that surging popularity has come a slew of negative media attention, and recently a number of reports have suggested disposables could be dangerous, leading to some customers asking us – how bad are Elf Bars?
If you’re keen to try out these throw-away vape kits to help you quit smoking, but you’re concerned they might be harmful, here’s some helpful info to help you decide whether or not this product’s for you.
Are Elf Bars Dangerous?
- Vaping proven to be most successful smoking cessation tool
- Disposables offer cheap and easy way to get started
- E-cigarettes proven to be at least 95% safer than combustible tobacco products
If you’ve typed “are Elf Bars bad for you?” into Google and arrived on this page then chances are you’re concerned about the safety of these devices. In order to answer this question as thoroughly as possible, first let’s consider the reason disposables are on the market in the first place. These quick, cheap and easy units are designed to help people switch from smoking to vaping.
When comparing vaping to smoking, we can see that e-cigarettes are significantly safer than their combustible counterparts – in fact, Public Health England (PHE) carried out a landmark study a few years ago that determined vaping was at least 95% safer than smoking.
In addition, a further study found that vaping is by far the most effective stop-smoking aid, helping an estimated 5 million people worldwide to turn their back on cigarettes.
Are vape products 100% safe? No, but let’s face it, not much on this Earth is! E-cigarettes may cause some minor side-effects (more on that later), but these pale in comparison to the damage caused by smoking and many people won’t experience any at all.
Considering the abundance of overwhelming evidence proving the safety of vaping, it seems ludicrous that we’re still going round in circles with the media. Then again, we’re living in the age of click-bait news, so annoyingly this is something we just have to accept.
So, are these devices bad for you? Although not completely risk-free, vape products are a much less harmful alternative to smoking, so if you’re using disposables to make the switch then there’s no doubt you’re making a positive health choice.
Elf Bar 600 Side Effects
So we’ve established vaping is significantly safer than smoking, but it’s worth noting e-cigarettes may still cause some side effects. Thankfully, though, these are likely to be mild, so Elf Bar side effects aren’t usually anything to worry about.
Elf Bar side effects include the following:
- Dry mouth/throat
- Cough
- Nausea
- Mouth and throat irritation
- Headaches
- Shortness of breath
If you’re concerned about side-effects, a study published in the Cochrane Library should put your mind at ease. It concluded the following:
“None of the included studies (short to mid-term, up to 2 years) detected serious adverse events considered possibly related to vaping use. The most commonly-reported adverse effects were throat/mouth irritation, headache, cough and nausea, which tended to dissipate with continued use”.
Hopefully this will clear up any concerns you have over side effects, but if you’re still keen to learn more about the effect e-cigarettes in general have on your body, check out our Vaping & Health guide.
How Strong Are Elf Bars?
As well as stoking fears over safety, the media has also been warning about the high nicotine content found in some devices. Headlines about “dangerous super-strength” vape products have become commonplace, but is the nicotine content actually excessive, or is the media simply blowing things out of proportion once again?
EU regulation says no device with nicotine can contain more than 2ml of e-liquid. The nicotine content is also capped at 20 mg per ml of vape juice, so manufacturers are permitted to put 40 mg of nicotine into a 2ml disposable.
Elf Bars come with 40 mg of nicotine, so you’ll be glad to know they conform to EU regulation. This highlights once again how the media is sensationalising the facts to create scare stories out of nothing.
Different Regulation in the U.S
It appears many of the stories about strong disposables like Elf Bars and Geek Bars are actually talking about products you’d find in the U.S. Across the pond, although the FDA are currently mulling over a blanket ban of flavoured vape products, currently no regulation on the strength of e-liquid or the size of tanks exists. As a result, products such as the Geek Bar Pro, which contains 4.5ml of e-liquid and a higher nicotine:liquid ratio are available to buy.
These are the products the media is using to try and scare people in the UK away from disposables – despite the fact they aren’t even sold legally in this country!
So, are Elf Bars safe? Well, the short answer is yes. As we’ve discussed, no vaping products are completely harmless, but if you’re using them to quit smoking then there’s little doubt they offer a much safer alternative to smoking.
With that said, that’s why we’d never encourage non-smokers to take up vaping, so if you’ve never picked up a cigarette then you’re probably best off avoiding vaping products all-together.
If you’re still on the fence about throw-away devices then check out our ‘Disposable Vapes – Are They Worth it?’ post where you can learn all about the advantages and disadvantages of these products.