I love that people want to speak up, but posts like this show that there is still a need to get the facts out to "semi-informed" e-cigarette users:
lalaelk writes:
"Some E-cigarette companies claim the devices are safer and can help smokers quit. But critics say the companies' statements are unproven and their health claims are unsubstantiated"
For an article that was written only a few days ago, it is a sorry work of journalism when I see old and unsubstantial "facts".
First of all, since April of 2011-8 months ago-e cig companies are no longer allowed to claim that e cigs are smoking cessation devices. (Thanks, FDA!) (1)
Secondly, The FDA "study" was done in 2009, and it was flawed. Further testing debunked the FDA study and shows an obvious deception. The FDA found one chemical, diethylene glycol, in only 1 of the 18 cartridges that they tested and it was at a concentration of much less than 1%. (2) However, what the FDA failed to mention is that the tested E-Cigarette cartridge had about 1/10 the DG that can be found in aspirin, and about 1/40 the amount found in your typical tobacco cigarette.
The second flaw in the FDA's report is that the chemical found in the majority of e-cigs is not diethylene glycol, it is propylene glycol. (3) Propylene glycol is the chemical which is put into anti-freeze in order to make the anti-freeze child-safe and/or pet-safe. It is found in thousands of products we use daily-cake mixes, toothpaste,soda,ice cream etc.
The real kick in the teeth from the FDA is that approved smoking cessation products such as the nicotine inhaler, gum and patch contain much higher levels of Propylene Glycol than the e-cig cartridge. (4)
I tried to quit smoking numerous times after being a smoker for 25+ years. I am proud to say that with the help of the e-cig, I have been smoke free for over a year. I did my homework before chosing to use the e-cig, and it sure would be nice if people who write for major publications would do the same.
Here are the errors in this post, which unfortunately, make the writer sound just as uninformed as the writer of the article. It seems to be more of a case of mixed messages, but it still looks bad. Unfortunately, I often see these facts being mixed up like this by well-meaning vapers. If we are going to claim to be telling the truth about e-cigarettes, we must have our facts straight and be infallible! So, just as clarification for others who may want to comment...
(1) E-cigarette manufacturers never were approved or authorized to market e-cigarettes as smoking cessation devices. The April 2011 decision by the FDA not to challenge the Sottera vs. FDA resulted in the FDA essentially being stopped from regulating e-cigarettes as drug delivery devices (ie. smoking cessation treatments) and requiring the same expensive and time-consuming clinical trials required of approved smoking cessation treatments. While it is unfortunate and unfair that something which so obviously helps people quit smoking can only make the claim if it is actually an FDA-approved
nicotine cessation product, the fact that the FDA cannot regulate e-cigarettes as smoking cessation devices (effectively removing them from the market) is a good thing.
(2) The FDA test found "approximately 1% diethylene glycol." Stating it was "much less than 1%" is not accurate. One point often overlooked in comments, though, is that the DEG was found in the liquid of only
one of the 18 tested and has not been found in
any testing since. Additionally, the DEG was NOT found in the vapor - which is significant because we do not consume the liquid or cartridges, we inhale the vapor, which has never been found to contain DEG.
Finally, the level of DEG found is not a toxic amount to an adult, even if you drank it or swallowed the cartridge. The FDA states that the relevant safety limit for DEG is 0.1%, but the overall dose is what makes the poison. A typical e-cigarette cartridge holds less than 3ml of liquid. At 1%, that would be only .03ml of DEG, (possibly) consumed over several hours. On the other hand, drinking a 12oz beverage (in less than an hour) with .01% DEG (the FDA limit) would also be .03ml consumed - and that's OK with the FDA. (For comparison, the deaths from the well-known DEG-contaminated cough elixir were from consuming 21ml or more of DEG - 700 times the amount found in the e-cigarette by the FDA.)
(3) The FDA never claimed that e-cigarette liquid was DEG based, so this argument is confusing.
(4) This comment seems to be confusing the fact that FDA-approved nicotine cessation products, such as the patch, contain similar levels of TSNAs as e-cigarettes. The argument for PG found in these products is also confusing and I'm not sure if PG is even an ingredient in the products listed and even if it was, the "level of propylene glycol" (a non-toxic, inactive ingredient) is not relevant.
