The e-cigarette, or electronic cigarette, was heralded as a breakthrough option for smokers who wanted to quit, cut back or still be able to legally smoke in public non-smoking areas. As you may have heard, there is recent controversy about e-cigarettes. Here’s the scoop”
E-Cigarettes
Many are shaped like an actual cigarette and the hand to mouth gestures, along with inhaling and exhaling of a vapor, mimics the behaviors used in smoking a real cigarette. Other shapes resemble pipes and cigars, and some look like inhalers.
- Have been tried by as many as one-fifth of smokers.
- Do not produce smoke, carbon monoxide or an odor because nothing actually “burns”.
- Use a lithium battery to heat a cartridge of liquid usually filled with a percentage of nicotine, propylene glycol (a solvent used in making theatrical smoke) and flavorings.
- Are tobacco-free ““ the nicotine is synthetic. Cartridges that do not contain any nicotine are also available.
- Costs from $100 – $200 initially; cost of refill cartridges varies.
The controversy
The FDA has not reviewed or evaluated e-cigarettes, but identified the following concerns: “their labeling has to be reviewed, their intended use has to be reviewed, and all of their ingredients and components have to be reviewed.”
Liquid nicotine is extracted from tobacco, but unlike tobacco leaves, liquid nicotine can be lethal. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of calls to poison control centers regarding e-cigarette nicotine-infused liquids rose sharply every month between September 2010 and February 2014, from just one call per month to as many as 215 — that’s a rise from 0.3 percent to 41.7 percent of all emergency calls. As many as 51.1 percent of those calls involved accidental poisoning of kids under the age of five.
Additional concerns include:
- No regulation on sales.
- No age limit on purchases, so it is possible for children to legally purchase an e-cigarette.
- No studies to indicate the health risks of long-term e-cigarette use.
- No quality control on contents.
Canada’s health agency banned the importation of sale of e-cigarette products in September 2014.
Many United States medical associations (including the American Lung Association) have asked the FDA to ban e-cigarette sales until they are proven safe.
Craig Youngblood, President of the InLife e-cigarette company states, “In our product, you have nicotine or no nicotine, PEG (polyethylene glycol) and some flavoring. In cigarettes, you have nicotine, PEG and 4,000 chemicals and 43 carcinogens. There are 45 to 50 million people already addicted to nicotine. Should they have the choice to satisfy their addiction by other means? (…) I am a proponent of harm reduction.”
As of this writing, the FDA has banned entry of e-cigarettes into the country until further evaluation of the product can be conducted and FDA approval is given.
Note: Pfizer Pharmaceutical has an FDA approved nicotine inhaler in drug stores. According to the FDA, the Nicotrol inhaler has been approved as a smoking cessation device.
