More steam for the anti-vaping movement: A French consumer
magazine, National Consumer Institute, reported Monday that e-cigarettes
contain "a significant quantity of carcinogenic molecules" in their
vapor that have so far gone undetected.
E-cigarettes, those battery-powered devices you see people
puffing indoors, use heat to vaporize liquid nicotine, but contain no tobacco
and produce no smoke, and thus evade anti-smoking regulation.
Using a new method of testing, researchers found that in
three out of the ten e-cigs studied, the level of formaldehyde, a known
carcinogen, came close to the amount in conventional cigarettes. Furthermore, a
highly toxic molecule called acrolein was detected "sometimes at levels
even higher than in traditional cigarettes," said Thomas Laurenceau, chief
editor of the magazine.
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"This is not a reason to ban them, but to place them
under better control," he said.
Laurencea's sentiment has been echoed by vaping skeptics
across the pond, where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is chewing on a
set of possible regulations due out this fall, including a ban of online sales
to prevent sales to minors and limits on advertising. Meanwhile, Michael
Bloomberg, New York City's health-conscious mayor, is considering a plan that,
among other things, would outlaw e-cig flavors like bubble gum that seem
designed to attract youngsters.
The problem, say e-cig's detractors, is that without more
long-term studies and tests, we don't know if they're the safe alternative to
regular cigarettes that their proponents claim they are.
"The small studies that have been done so far hint at
both pros and cons; one found that smokers cut back on real cigarettes after
trying the electronic kind, while another found particles of metal and and
silicates in e-cigarette vapor that could cause breathing problems," says
the Bangkok Post. "It would be great if e-cigarettes turned out to be the
breakthrough that gets people to give up smoking tobacco. In the meantime, we
should all be careful that e-cigarettes not perpetuate a habit that society has
come a long way toward snuffing out."
On the other end, vaping advocates are offended by the rush
to condemn a breakthrough that could save hundreds of thousands of lives a
year. "The anti-smoking movement is a victim of its own success,"
says Nick Gillespie at The Daily Beast. "This time, the buttinskys are
trying to douse the dreaded e-cigarette, a device that supplies a safe nicotine
hit to the user without bothering or endangering anybody else."
"[T]he prohibitionists are taking on e-cigarettes
because... because... because... smoking tobacco is bad for you. And they don't
think you should decide how to live your life," he says.
The idea is that e-cigs can't be as bad as regular
cigarettes. And if regulators get too rule-happy, they might prevent real
smokers from becoming faux smokers.
"Allowing anti-smoking ideology to dictate e-cig
legislation would condemn smokers to using ineffective quitting strategies or
dying premature, tar-sodden deaths, but evidence-based regulation that
prioritizes public health would cause a revolution in tobacco harm
reduction," says Lindsay Fox, an e-cigarette advocate, at The New York Times.
While the debate rages on, the e-cigarette industry is
gaining momentum. The market is expected to reach $1 billion this year, and
analysts say sales could top $10 billion in the next five years. Without
regulation, the e-cigarette business could outgrow the cigarette business by
2047.
Article Credit: http://theweek.com
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