Electronic Cigarettes: Ban Them or Improve Them?
One out of every five American smokers has at least tried an electronic cigarette.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of smokers who have ventured into e-cigs doubled from 10 percent in 2010 to about 21 percent in 2011.
The rise in e-cigarette use over the past few years has been nothing short of meteoric. Ecig companies promise to give smokers their nicotine fix in a familiar format without the harmful chemicals associated with tobacco. But are e-cigs really safe?
The Food and Drug Administration tried to provide a definitive answer in 2009, when it tested 18 varieties of e-cigarette cartridges from NJoy and Smoking Everywhere. The study produced mixed results: it found TSNA carcinogens in five of the cartridges, including traces of highly toxic diethylene glycol in one cartridge produced by Smoking Everywhere. Other substances that are thought to be linked to cancer were found in 13 of the cartridges, with only Smoking Everywhere’s zero nicotine cartridges getting a complete pass. All but one of those zero nicotine cartridges were found to contain traces of nicotine.
After releasing the results of the research publicly, the FDA banned e-cigarettes in September 2009 on the grounds that they were unregulated medical devices. NJoy appealed the decision and strongly contested the FDA research, claiming that there was not adequate comparison between the TSNA levels in other nicotine delivery systems and NJoy e-cigarettes. The company also claimed that its e-cigarettes were not marketed as “therapeutic” devices. Four months after the ban, the FDA was forced by a US court to reverse the restrictions and regulate the devices as tobacco products.
The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-Free Alternatives Association (CASAA) has tasked itself with educating the public on the benefits of e-cigarettes. It said the FDA should be “encouraging and supporting studies” into e-cigarette safety and their usefulness as a “smoking replacement product.” It also calls the FDA’s original study “misleading,” noting that the FDA stated that e-cigarettes contain carcinogens “without bothering to mention that FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy products contain equivalent quantities.” the CASAA claims that a gram of the liquid found inside e-cigarettes contains the equivalent carcinogens of a nicotine patch, and less than one percent of those found in a full-flavor Marlboro cigarette.
The FDA has continued to face problems regulating e-cigarettes because of the way the devices are classified. If they are not marketed as something that can help you quit smoking, then they are not subject to the same laws covering nicotine patches or gum. If they are categorized as tobacco products, then they should be regulated as regular cigarettes.
Since 2010, the FDA has not conducted any further studies and has stood behind its initial research. Elsewhere in the world, Australia is about to launch a full clinical trial of e-cigarettes, while the UK government is attempting to determine the efficacy of ecigs as a tobacco-replacement tool.
Big tobacco is starting to feel the effects of the e-cigarette boom. British American Tobacco, the world’s second-largest tobacco firm, bought out a UK startup that develops e-cigarette technology. Lorillard acquired e-cigarette brand Blu Cigs for $135 million. Philip Morris and Reynolds have publicly stated their intent to enter the market. These industry giants are well placed to fight against any new regulation.
Clive Bates, a former British civil servant who runs a site focused on “analytic advocacy” has looked into proposed EU regulation, and worries that it could stifle what is certainly a growing market in a stalled economy.
“What is the appropriate safety standard for nicotine delivery?” asks Bates. “Most is delivered in a matrix of toxic smoke and poisonous gases.” If e-cigarettes are less harmful than tobacco, why not embrace the technology and attempt to improve it? Why ban something that is less harmful than the product that kills 400,000 Americans each year?
Both the CASAA and Bates say that the framework to properly regulate e-cigarettes is already in place. Any product on sale in the US and Europe must be clearly-labeled, include safety warnings. Bates argues that forcing manufacturers to meet those standards, and routinely checking to ensure they do, should be enough.
Until a thorough research and investigation are done on all the ecig brands on sale in the US, there is no way to know if electronic cigarettes are really safe for you. The FDA is standing pat while millions of untested, unregulated devices continue to flood in from China.
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