With the growth also comes controversy.
On July 22, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration issued a report stating that nitrosamines, a carcinogen, and diethylene glycol, a toxin found in antifreeze, were found in tests of two leading e-cigarette brands.
The brands were not disclosed in the study, and a call to the FDA was not returned.
Dr. Michael Siegel, professor at the Boston University School of Public Health, and Dr. Joel Nitzkin of the American Association of Public Health Physician’s
tobacco Control Task Force, agreed with the findings, but challenged the way the FDA presented its report.
“There is no carcinogen in these products that are at levels that would warrant concern,” Dr. Siegel said. “I think they misrepresented the data by not putting it in the proper perspective.”
Dr. Siegel said the report found trace levels of nitrosamines in e-cigarettes that are more than 1,000 times lower than levels found in traditional cigarettes.
“Of course they found trace levels. ... You can’t possibly have a product derived from nicotine without these residues,” he added.
The FDA also considers e-cigarettes to be unlicensed smoking-cessation drugs, but Dr. Nitzkin said they are intended as
tobacco products, not cessation aides.
“E-cigarettes give the smoker who’s unable or unwilling to quit a way to get the nicotine they crave without the other harmful chemicals found in cigarettes,” Dr. Nitzkin said.
In September 2009, the FDA sent warning letters to five electronic cigarette companies for making unsubstantiated claims about their products.
E-cigarettes are not FDA-approved for smoking cessation and have no proven health benefits.
Gage said Firebrand e-cigarettes were not tested in the FDA study.
