Fruit-flavored e-cigarettes are quietly popular among middle school students! Severe cases can cause "popcorn lung"

Recently, a type of fruit-flavored e-cigarette has been easily purchased by minors through various covert channels, causing many children to become addicted to smoking.

Ms. Zhao from Beijing is the mother of a high school girl. Not long ago, when she was sorting her daughter's schoolbag, she found an e-cigarette. What Ms. Zhao couldn't understand was that her daughter always hated the smell of tobacco, so how could she smoke e-cigarettes? After asking, she found out that these were fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, which tasted fresh and cool, without the smell of tobacco. Her daughter started trying them out of curiosity.

Ms. Zhao's daughter told reporters that half of her friends were smoking fruit-flavored e-cigarettes without their parents' knowledge. She herself started smoking fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in the second grade of junior high school and has been smoking them secretly for more than four years. She has tried lemon, strawberry, and watermelon flavors. At most, she had more than ten e-cigarettes of various fruit flavors hidden in her schoolbag.

In 2020, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes were very popular among some high school students, and there was even a phenomenon of comparison between them. During the reporter's investigation in Shanghai, Guangdong, Hunan and other places, some middle school students told the reporter that many of their classmates smoked fruit-flavored e-cigarettes.

Some middle school students who smoke e-cigarettes told reporters that as long as they are not wearing school uniforms, they can easily buy e-cigarettes, even flavored e-cigarettes, at many sales locations. Some middle school students started with fruit-flavored e-cigarettes and gradually began to smoke ordinary cigarettes. Many parents were very angry when they found out and filed complaints.

Data from the public welfare consumer service platform Black Cat Complaints shows that from January 1, 2024 to March 10, 2025, the total number of complaints with "electronic cigarettes" as the keyword was 350, of which 16% mentioned "minors" and "children". The number one complaint was illegal sales, accounting for as high as 31%.

Where do the fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in the hands of minors come from?

In the comment section of a short video about fruit-flavored e-cigarettes on a certain video platform, the reporter found that a large number of accounts posted emoticons such as strawberries, watermelons, and flowers in their replies. Ms. Zhao’s daughter told the reporter that these contents seemed to be normal replies, but in the eyes of consumers who smoke fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, this was equivalent to a sales "code."

The reporter learned that the emojis of watermelon and flowers left by some sellers are cryptic expressions of "fruit flavor". The reporter randomly clicked on an account that sent flower emojis and found a WeChat number on the pop-up page. The reporter added the other party's WeChat through the number on the page.

The fruit-flavored e-cigarette micro-business then sent a product introduction, which was a series of fruit-flavored cartridges on sale, with a total of 5 brands, each with more than 20 flavors to choose from. During the communication, the micro-business did not ask whether the buyer was a minor.

The reporter also investigated some e-commerce platforms. On a certain trading website, the reporter entered the keyword "electronic cigarette" for search, and a warning reminder immediately popped up on the webpage.

However, after changing the keywords to "atomizer" or "electronic atomization", the key components of e-cigarettes, a large number of sellers appeared on the platform instantly. From the sales pages of these sellers, one can see eye-catching words such as "cigarette cartridge and rod warehouse" and "fruit electronic atomization rod", as well as the text of some e-cigarette brands. The reporter randomly selected a seller to send a message, and the other party quickly replied automatically: If you want e-cigarettes, add WeChat.

During the investigation, the reporter noticed that some merchants on e-commerce platforms are still openly selling a "mouth spray" that claims to be "nicotine-free". The appearance of this product is highly similar to that of an e-cigarette. The merchant claims that this is not an e-cigarette, but it can be used like smoking. There are products with a variety of flavors such as lychee, grape, and white peach, with large mist and full fruity flavor. The page of this online store shows that this product has nearly 20,000 followers and 2,000 repeat customers.

What are e-cigarettes?

Electronic cigarettes are electronic products that imitate cigarettes, also known as "electronic nicotine delivery systems". They are products that transmit nicotine and other substances to the user's respiratory system after the electronic cigarette liquid is atomized into aerosols by an atomizer. They are mainly composed of four parts: smoke oil, heating system, power supply and filter. The smoke oil contains nicotine, flavors, propylene glycol and other chemicals.

Electronic cigarettes are electronic devices that imitate tobacco and can form aerosols of various flavors, giving users the pleasure of "smoking". Because there is no need for combustion, electronic cigarettes can avoid harmful products of incomplete combustion such as tar, but this does not mean that they are safe.

Most e-cigarette liquids on the market also contain the addictive substance nicotine. E-cigarettes only reduce some harmful ingredients in real cigarettes and are not completely harmless.

Does e-cigarettes have any impact on health?

E-cigarettes often contain the addictive substance nicotine. Nicotine exposure to adolescents may affect brain development, leading to learning disabilities and anxiety. Due to the mixed quality of e-cigarette products and the lack of production supervision, the actual nicotine content of many e-cigarettes far exceeds the labeled content, and the harm to the human body is difficult to predict.

The aerosol released by electronic cigarettes after heating can produce carcinogens such as formaldehyde, nicotine, nitrosamines, and benzene. As the power and atomization temperature of electronic cigarettes increase, the amount of carcinogens released increases exponentially. In addition, there are dozens of heavy metals in the smoke of electronic cigarettes, with nickel and chromium being the most abundant, which are carcinogenic.

Moreover, the flavoring agents in the aerosol can increase the release of free radicals after heating, which can directly irritate the human respiratory tract, nasal cavity and oral mucosa, causing cough, pharyngitis and pharyngitis, etc. The 2.3-butanedione in the aerosol can aggravate respiratory inflammation, and in severe cases can block all small airways, forming "popcorn lung".

In recent years, in order to cater to young people, many e-cigarette manufacturers have launched fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, whose biggest feature is the diverse flavors and cool fragrance. Many minors are obsessed with this flavor and are not aware of the nicotine hazards. The nicotine content of fruit-flavored e-cigarettes on the market is mostly between 2% and 5%.

Zhi Xiuyi, chief expert of thoracic surgery at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University and vice president of the China Tobacco Control and Health Association, said that long-term use of e-cigarettes can also cause health hazards to people at high risk of smoking-related diseases, especially the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

In the opinion of experts, minors become interested in e-cigarettes out of curiosity and fascination with the smell. If they become addicted, they may eventually relieve their smoking addiction through high nicotine content.

Moreover, the secondhand smoke produced by e-cigarettes is not safe either. Secondhand aerosol (secondhand smoke from e-cigarettes) is a new source of air pollution that produces particulate matter (including fine particles and ultrafine particles), 1.2-propylene glycol, certain volatile organic compounds, certain heavy metals and nicotine.

Do e-cigarettes help quit smoking?

Many people simply replace cigarettes with e-cigarettes and continue to be addicted to a harmful substance. This is not the full meaning of "quitting smoking" as understood by ordinary people. WHO does not recommend using e-cigarettes as an auxiliary tool for quitting smoking.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has clearly warned that e-cigarettes contain nicotine and other harmful substances. Not only is the use of e-cigarettes harmful, but people who smoke e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future and become new smokers.

Source: CCTV News, Weekly Quality Report, The Paper, Shandong CDC, Sichuan CDC