Tech companies roll out sensors to detect vaping amid spike in seizures and use among students | The Straits Times

SINGAPORE - Tech companies are rolling out sensors to detect vaping, amid a sharp rise in the seizures of electronic vaporisers in Singapore.

Communications and security company Motorola Solutions has, since September, been marketing its Halo Smart Sensor at organisations here, including at schools that have seen a spike in students caught vaping.

Each sensor, which is about the size of a saucer, retails for about $2,000. It is usually placed overhead in toilets, classrooms or offices.

Schools in the United States have placed similar devices in bathrooms, which have little adult supervision.

The device monitors 16 data points including particulates, carbon monoxide and the number of people in the room. It is able to monitor the quality of air and detect dangerous vaping chemicals.

When triggered, Halo sensors send an alert via SMS to a security control centre or teachers, who can then look around for e-vaporisers and the offending students.

Said Mr Choong Kit Soon from Motorola Solutions: “In its generic form, Halo looks at three aspects – environmental health, safety and movements in a room... (Halo) provides the ears and nose to give another level of sensing.”

Apart from detecting vaping aerosols, Halo sensors monitor cannabis use, aggression or screams for help, gunshots, nitrogen dioxide, humidity and temperature.

A teacher in Singapore, who recently caught a Primary 4 pupil vaping, said vaping detection sensors could be a “game changer”.

The discipline master from a primary school in the west declined to be named, as he was not authorised to speak for the school.

He told The Straits Times: “On a typical school day, teachers are busy and have many other responsibilities. We cannot be expected to wait and ambush students vaping in toilets.”

A teacher at an institute of higher learning (IHL), who spoke on condition of anonymity, said schools need all the help they can get.

He said his school had detected about 200 cases of students vaping a month over a three-month period from October 2022.

He added that students often hide vaporisers in false ceilings or behind mirrors in the student toilets.

Despite a ban on the importation, possession and use of vaporisers since 2018, the number of people caught with the device has spiked in recent years.

In 2023, 7,838 people were caught for the possession or use of vaporisers, a 60 per cent increase from the 4,916 in 2022. In 2021, about 4,700 users were caught.

In the first half of 2024, figures from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) showed that 5,480 people were caught for possessing or using vaporisers here.

More than half, or 3,840 people, were caught between July 1 and Sept 30 alone.

MOH said these include 743 cases of students caught vaping who were referred by schools and IHLs.

This compares with 800 students ranging from primary-school age to those in IHLs prosecuted or fined for vaping offences in 2022.

To address the problem in schools, MOH and HSA have been working with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and the Ministry of Education to ramp up efforts to tackle the problem of vaping.

In July, HPB rolled out a campaign that was pushed out across outdoor advertisements and social media channels highlighting the harms of vaping, and that it is illegal in Singapore.

It had also tied up with primary and secondary schools to teach nearly 37,000 students about the benefits of a nicotine-free lifestyle through skits.

Students caught vaping have also been given support and strategies to quit. About 830 young people received counselling between July and September 2024.

Meanwhile, HSA has been monitoring online content to identify those who vape in public and use or pose with vapes in photographs or videos.

Health authorities overseas have also adopted similar strategies, with schools increasingly employing sensors to fight the scourge.

In Britain, 77 schools reported some success after installing VapeGuardian sensors to detect the use of vaporisers and electronic cigarettes.

The Daily Mail reported that the sensors were triggered an average of 17 to 22 times a day across the schools when they were first installed in September 2022.

The alerts dropped almost by half after one week to “an average of eight to 11 alerts, and these figures continue to decline consistently week after week”, the report added.

Nearly one in 10 children reportedly uses e-cigarettes in Britain.

Checks by ST showed dozens of tech companies overseas rolling out vape sensors, with many promoting its use in schools to aid in detection and enforcement of rules.

West Coast GRC MP Ang Wei Neng said the fight against vaping’s influence on the young should be on many fronts, as there are many social media posts that try to normalise the practice or promote it as a cool trend.

Mr Ang raised his concerns in Parliament in April about the younger generation picking up vaping.

He told ST: “Without knowing more about the Halo sensor and its effectiveness, I would say it is a good development in the right direction.

“If the sensors can be deployed in scale and with reasonable cost, it has a lot of potential to detect vaping and alert HSA to take quick action.

“If it is implemented well, it would help us reduce the negative impact of vaping.”

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