UPDATE: Limestone County Schools approves motion to add vape sensors in all high school bathrooms

A new move by Congress targets vaping products that remained on the market despite growing efforts to clamp down on flavors that are especially popular among young people.

The Limestone County School System is thinking about using them to fight vaping in schools.

UPDATE: The Limestone County School Board approved the motion to add vape sensors in all high school bathrooms.

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Limestone County Schools is looking at a new way to keep kids from vaping at schools.

Tuesday evening, school board members are set to discuss a resolution to install vape sensors in the bathrooms of all high schools, the Career Technical Center and the Owens Campus. It would cost the school district $132,784 to buy all the sensors from Danmark Communications & Security.

Some sensors have already been installed at West Limestone High School as a trial run. School officials told WAAY 31 it's been successful so far, which is why they're looking to install more at other schools.

It comes as health officials notice a growing trend in kids using e-cigarettes. Last year, the CDC found more than one in four kids vape every single day, which is why some local doctors are all for the vape sensors.

"Nothing is perfect, but anything we can do to deter is smart," Dr. Jason T. Smith, who is director of the Huntsville Lung Center, said.

He's also a father of two teens, so he makes sure they know of the dangers of vaping.

"The e-cigarettes cause a plethora of problems. I'll kind of just summarize it. You still have the nicotine. You still have the chemicals. You still have over 100 deaths a year from them exploding from the heat signal, which is not many, but I wouldn't want my child to be one of the 100, but those are the main things, and I think the other thing to drive home is that it's not an alternative to smoking," Smith said.

This graphic, found on the Alabama Department of Public Health page on vapes and e-cigs, shows how much more nicotine a person consumes when vaping versus smoking a cigarette.

A single Juul pod is equal to more than two packs of cigarette, and other products are even worse.

Other dangers Smith mentioned about vaping include stunting a child's brain development, developing asthma or even acute lung injury.

"Folks were inhaling solutions and it was causing the lungs to secrete fluid within the lung, and they were literally drowning," Smith explained. "It is associated with marijuana being smoked through the vape pens."

Smith encourages parents to sit down and talk to their kids to try to figure out why they want to vape in the first place, and to let them know of the dangers so that kids can make the best choices.

"It is an easy thing to do, and there doesn't seem to be payback, even if you have someone like, 'Hey! You got to watch it!' They're not getting the immediate side effects. What you got to do is show them outside the marketing of these things what they're all about—meaning the chemicals that they burn into, the explosion that can happen, the nicotine that's in the thing that can cause the addiction problems," Smith said.

If you want to quit vaping, the state health department encourages you to sign up for its free, anonymous texting service that provides 24/7 support, daily tips and motivation to reach your goal. All you have to do is text "VAPEFREEAL" to 88709.

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