Are Fake Vapes Dangerous?
Yes, fake vapes are very dangerous. In the UK, vaping products that contain nicotine must be reported to the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. These stringent rules exist because of the risks posed if vaping products are not properly regulated. A fake vape is not subject to any of these regulations, so can be incredibly dangerous.
With unregulated ingredients, including possible carcinogens, shoddy manufacturing, and a complete disregard for safety standards, using a fake vape means gambling with your health. These dangers extend to the whole device, with unsafe parts and unstable batteries par for the course with illegal vapes.
Here’s a more detailed look at the dangers of using a fake vape:
Unregulated Ingredients
There is an alarming range of chemicals in fake vapes that are not safe for inhalation. When you draw heavy metals and toxins into your lungs, you are directly sending them into your respiratory system. For this reason, the potential symptoms of fake vapes include irreversible lung damage, inflammation, scarring, and an increased risk of chronic respiratory diseases.
Unsafe Parts
Criminals making fake vapes use low-quality, cheap parts to construct them. The components won’t have undergone safety testing, and batteries in particular pose a huge threat; they could overheat, short-circuit, or even explode. Poor quality coils and cartridges can result in e-liquid leaking. In the worst cases, the liquid can burn at the wrong temperature, so you inhale even more toxic fumes.
Nicotine Levels
In the UK, the nicotine content of vape juice is capped at 20mg or 2%. Illegal vapes follow no such guidelines. Terrifying levels of up to 200 cigarettes' worth of nicotine can be in one vape device, as reported by BBC News. The risk of nicotine addiction and even nicotine poisoning is much higher. This is a hazard for any vape users, but may have even more dire consequences for new or inexperienced vapers.
Manufacturing
Factories producing fake vapes are not the clean laboratories you can expect with genuine vape manufacturers. Conditions can be unsanitary, with cross contamination and a lack of quality control. A fake vape might be full of dust, bacteria or other foreign particles.
Other Reasons to Avoid Fake Vapes
As well as the considerable negative impact to health, illegal vapes are bad news for a number of other reasons:
Wasted Money
Fake vapes are often cheaper than the market average but, as the saying goes, “you buy cheap, you buy twice”. They’re more likely to fail, leak or have a very short lifespan.
Low Quality Flavours
You’ll often know a fake vape by the bad flavour experience. Low concentrations, harsh flavours or a distinct chemical taste are dead giveaways. Vapour production might be hit and miss too, and you’ll start to notice a burnt taste much sooner than with real vapes.
Environmental Impact
Disposable vapes were banned in the UK in June 2025. Part of the reason for this was the environmental impact disposables were having. A move to rechargeable vapes means less waste, with most of the parts being fully recyclable. Fake vapes are often discarded more often because of the poor quality and are not recycled.
Organised Crime
A survey from UK Trading Standards found that more than 40% of authorities identified electronic vaping products as a goods category connected to criminality. Illegal vapes are produced cheaply, usually by organised crime syndicates, and purchasing them means you could be contributing to criminal trade, unfair competition, tax evasion and unstable markets.
