Electronic Cigarettes — Risky Business?
E is for “easy to fool,” “effortless to fleece,” “eager to take your money”—and so it makes sense that E is also for electronic cigarette.
Have you seen ads for these new and so-called “fantastic, risk-free, clean, and absolutely amazing” products that let people continue to “smoke” without all the dangers of smoking? The electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) manufacturers are marketing their product as if it’s a miracle. Some companies are even calling them green and natural, and marketing them as a wholesome alternative to standard cigarettes. But are they telling the truth?
An electronic cigarette contains liquid nicotine, which is highly addictive. In fact, research shows nicotine is as addictive as heroin.1 E-cigarettes are being advertised as a legitimate alternative to smoking, but public health officials are skeptical. If you are thinking about using e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking, or to help you stop smoking, it’s important to know that these nicotine delivery devices are not FDA approved for effectiveness or safety. There are proven and safe alternatives for nicotine replacement therapy to help you stop smoking, such as the patch and gum, both of which are FDA approved and safe when used according to directions. You can learn more about these and other medications to help you quit smoking, and then discuss with your physician which may be best for you.
E-cigarettes run on a battery. When the user inhales them like a typical cigarette, the battery warms liquid nicotine stored in a plastic filter. The nicotine is dissolved in propylene glycol, the liquid that is vaporized in nightclub and stage show smoke machines. The combination of heat and liquid creates the vapor or “smoke” puff when exhaled.
Electronic cigarette manufacturers publicize their product as the first healthy cigarette, free of the harmful chemicals and tar typically found in tobacco products. There is only one ingredient: pure liquid nicotine. According to Elicko Taieb, CEO of Smoking Everywhere, one of the largest distributors of electronic cigarettes, “Our product is comparable to the nicotine patch except people still get the oral fixation, which they love.” But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers e-cigarettes an unapproved new drug because there is not enough scientific proof that they are safe or effective. The FDA is trying to stop importation of e-cigarettes, but isn’t confiscating products already being sold in the United States.
“There are no ingredients in our e-cigs that can cause cancer. However, it is a pretty new product, so we are not 100 percent sure of the side effects at this point,” Taieb said. “But we haven’t heard of any negative side effects yet, but we are pretty sure they are safe.”2
Pretty sure? Is “pretty sure” that a product is safe good enough for you, or for your family? If it’s a product that you inhale or ingest, “pretty sure” just does not cut it.
“If the marketers of the electronic cigarette want to help smokers quit, then they need to conduct clinical studies and toxicity analyses and operate within the proper regulatory framework,” said Douglas Bettcher, Director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Tobacco Free Initiative. “Until they do that, WHO cannot consider the electronic cigarette to be an appropriate nicotine replacement therapy, and it certainly cannot accept false suggestions that it has approved and endorsed the product.”3 WHO officials are taking a firm stance, calling for marketers to immediately remove any suggestion that WHO considers e-cigarettes to be a safe and effective smoking cessation aid from Web sites or other materials.
The FDA has also chimed in regarding those who say that an electronic cigarette is no different than an approved nicotine inhaler. “The Nicotrol inhaler is an approved smoking cessation device,” says the FDA's Chapelle. “Because these e-cigarette products haven't been reviewed by the agency, their labeling has to be reviewed, their intended use has to be reviewed, and all of their ingredients and components have to be reviewed.”4
Those who make a living convincing you to spend your hard-earned money on these and other products do not want you to look too closely at the scientific evidence. They don’t have your best interests at heart. But we do, and so do many physicians and scientists whose job it is to keep you safe and healthy. “Nicotine is not the thing in tobacco smoke that causes cancer, but inhaling pure nicotine may be dangerous,” said Dr. Steven Schroeder, a physician and smoking cessation expert at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. “We have no clue what the health effects could be.”5
The obvious purpose of the e-cigarette is to deliver an addictive substance, nicotine, to you, its user, in the hopes that it will foster your addiction and cause you to buy more e-cigarettes. There is nothing good about that. You’re too important to your family, your unit, and your country to use e-cigarettes. When you are ready to quit, we’re here to help. Quit Tobacco—Make Everyone Proud.
References
1 The Health Consequences of Smoking: Nicotine Addiction; A Report of the Surgeon General, 1988.
2 http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/13/ecigarettes.smoking/index.html
3 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2008/pr34/en/index.html
4 http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/ecigarettes-under-fire?page=2
5 http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/13/ecigarettes.smoking/index.html