E-cigarettes, battery-powered devices that are supposed to provide a nicotine fix without all the toxins of real cigarettes, are quickly becoming an Internet phenomenon, yet little is known about them. In fact, the devices might be downright dangerous, according to an opinion piece in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The authors, from Harvard and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, say e-cigarettes are being marketed as a safer alternative, luring everyone from nonusers of tobacco to regular smokers looking to quit. Yet research on the safety of e-cigarettes is all over the map.
One of the first published studies, funded by a marketer of e-cigarettes, found that users absorbed less nicotine, and that the vapor contained no carbon monoxide, the main cause of smoking-related heart disease. A 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration lab analysis of two types of e-cigarettes, however, found trace amounts of a harmful solvent in one, and other dangerous compounds in the other. The researchers also point to a lack of smoking cessation data, suggesting that although a majority of consumers buy e-cigarettes because they want to quit smoking, their efforts might well be pinned on false hopes.
Some states, including Oregon and California, have already taken steps to slow the sale of e-cigarettes. Oregon has forced key e-cigarette manufacturers to stop doing business in the state. California pushed one marketer, Smoking Everywhere, to agree not to market to minors or to assert that its products are a safe substitute for smoking. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also sent warning letters to five distributors of electronic cigarettes telling them to stop making unsubstantiated claims about the safety of the products. Other countries, including Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Panama, have banned the devices altogether.
“We urgently need high-quality objective research to evaluate e-cigarette companies’ claims about harm reduction and smoking cessation potential,” write the authors of the piece. “Health professionals need to monitor the biological, social, and addictive effects of e-cigarettes and be aware of their rapid dissemination online.”
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I can’t believe it, cigarettes with their multitude of deadly chemicals seems to be safer than the one dose of nicotine. Me thinks someone is missing out on some dosh thus the FDA has been sent in to witch hunt. And the world gets stupider by the minute.
Yes, Frustrated, and fear is the most effective way of controlling its stupid masses.
Et tu Canada?
Regular cigarettes are proven to kill you, yet remain on the market.
e-cigs, with only a suspicion they may be harmful, are banned?
Hmm . . . me thinks big pharma has their fingers involved in this ! ! !
Just discovered an entertaining article about airline companies considering allowing ecigs to be smoked on airplanes. With luck , that day isn’t too far off…can you picture that?
Everyone has their opinion. My opinion is (from a former smokers perspective who has used an e-cigarette to quit) that there is more at stake smoking a cigarette than there ever could be vaping with an e-cigarette. However, any marketing towards children or non-smokers should really be considered “unethical practice” at best and should have consequences. Walking outside could be deemed bad for your health if you work the statistics right.
HI, today NO regular (analog cigs) yeah! tapered off 6,4,3,2 last four days, no cravings, have one with nicotine but will see about continuing to vape with 0 nicotine. They are a fantastic alternative to usual gum, patches and the prescriptions. Have more energy, less coughing and food is already tasting better.