AN urgent warning has been issued after six teenagers were rushed to hospital after buying vapes on Snapchat.
The youngsters suffered seizures, loss of consciousness and vomiting after purchasing the vapes on the social media app.
All six Australian teens were admitted to hospital within the same nine-day period.
Some vapes have been found to contain a dangerous cocktail of chemicals – including ingredients found in weedkiller and nail polish remover.
New South Wales Health said an analysis of the vapes revealed they contained nicotine – and said it was "increasingly concerned" about the rise of vaping.
It said: "NSW Health is increasingly concerned about the harmful health effects associated with vapes and continues to remind the community of the dangers associated with vaping, particularly for young people.
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"Vaping places young people at risk of lifelong serious health issues, including long-lasting effects of exposing their developing brains to nicotine, as many vapes have been found to contain high levels of nicotine even when they are not labelled as such."
This year alone, over 40 youngsters below 19 were admitted to NHS hospitals with collapsed lungs because of illegally sold vapes.
Among them were 15 children aged nine or under – up from 12 last year and just two the year before.
He added: "If a teenager starts smoking cigarettes, probably the worst that’s going to happen to them is they’re going to be sick and throw up behind the bike shed.
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"But the acute use of e-cigarettes can put them in hospital, can put them in intensive care, things like lung bleeding, lung collapse and air leak, the lungs filling up with fat."
Shockingly, other vapes in the UK were found to play host to a deadly flesh eating drug.
Xylazine, a horse tranquilliser causing havoc with drug users in the US, was discovered in modified e-cigarettes.
Health bosses issued a warning to NHS clinics because it causes skin and tissue necrosis and is easy to overdose on.
Experts said the vapes, which were impounded in Luton, Beds, could kill unsuspecting users.
E-cigarettes allow you to inhale nicotine in a vapour rather than smoke, and do not burn tobacco or produce tar and carbon monoxide – two of the most dangerous elements of traditional smoking.
Thousands of people in the UK have quit smoking with the help of e-cigarettes, or vapes.
But the effects of their long-term use is not widely understood.
Experts also fear thousands of young people are taking up the habit early, and potentially exposing themselves to knock-off devices.
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