Big tobacco companies are starting to get into the E-cigarette business. Are they truly safe, or just the next generation of addiction? In 1933, the New York State Journal of Medicine featured an ad for Chesterfield cigarettes claiming that the contents of their product were, “Just as pure as the water you drink.” With the wealth of information now available regarding cigarettes, everything about this advertisement seems silly - yet, its attitude still echoes today in e-cigarette ads claiming to be a healthy alternative to traditional cigarettes. |
They allegedly provide smokers nicotine in a fashion familiar to smoking a cigarette, but without the carcinogenic effects of tobacco or the contaminants and toxins found in cigarette smoke. This has resulted in an e-cigarette industry worth around $2 billion, a figure reported by Wells Fargo Securities.
Lately, however, the industry has faced backlash. Like the early days of cigarette manufacture, very little is known concerning the short and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes, if any. Only a handful of peer-reviewed studies exist that tackle the issue of e-cigarette toxicity, and regulations surrounding the production and sale of e-cigarettes are nonexistent. This is all quite troubling, and the fact that Big Tobacco companies are catching on to this new trend is an unpleasant omen.
So how do e-cigarettes work? They use a vapor mechanism to heat up a vaping liquid solvent composed of water, propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine, and flavorings, producing a vapor mist that gives users a nicotine buzz. One of its many selling points is the fact that it contains no tobacco, and in turn does not produce cigarette smoke, which solidifies as tar in the lungs. Another proposed benefit is that the number of contaminants and toxins inhaled are zero. Thus, it seems a no-brainer when it comes to the question of whether or not a smoker should trade the habit of smoking traditional cigarettes for e-cigarettes.
A study published in a 2012 issue of the journal Tobacco Control, found
that among 12 e-cigarette brands, the amount of toxins were significantly lower than in cigarette smoke. The research, conducted at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, seems to provide evidence that e-cigarettes are relatively safe. Similarly, in a study published in the September 2014 issue of the journal Addiction, researchers found that when attempting to quit, one fifth of smokers using electronic cigarettes quit smoking, as opposed to just one tenth of smokers who quit through the use of nicotine patches or gum. These results corroborate the idea that e-cigarettes are an effective quitting-aide.
So e-cigarettes are comparatively safer than cigarettes, and a great way to cut the habit, right?
Well, the studies in Addiction used loosely controlled variables, and the 2012 study in Tobacco Control is already outdated. The e-cigarette technology has advanced, and those sold today are much stronger in their nicotine content and contain different ingredients. In fact, many of the brands featured in the previous study are no longer on the market. So when the Roswell Park Cancer Institute published a new study in May 2014, their findings were alarming. They showed that with enough heat the vaping liquids were capable of thermally breaking down to carbonyls, such as formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical, and acetaldehyde, another carcinogen. Thus, if users maximize the heating power on their devices while using vaping liquids, formaldehyde levels reach those found in tobacco smoke.
Another issue concerns the second hand smoke, or vapor. Two initial studies conducted by the American Lung Association have found formaldehyde, benzene, nitrosamines, and lung irritants within secondhand emissions. So where does the FDA stand on the issue? Until now, the organization has done nothing in the way of regulating the sale of these products. Companies are able to put their products on shelves without listing any ingredients, and make dubious claims. As states place bans on e-cigarettes in public places, and calls for the FDA to act increase, the organization is attempting to impose a policy for e-cigarette companies to label the ingredients of their products, but is this enough?
This comes at a time when Big Tobacco companies, like RJ Reynolds, the manufacturer of Camel and other cigarette brands, and NuMark – a company owned by Altaria, the manufacturer of Marlboro, are producing their own lines of e-cigarettes, called Vuse and Markten, respectively, that can be purchased at retailers today. Neither is the first Big Tobacco company to make its way into the market, however, as Lorillard, the manufacturer of Newport cigarettes, owns the dominating e-cigarette brand, Blu. Lorillard spent $40 million in 2013 marketing Blu e-cigarettes with television and magazine ads featuring celebrities promoting their product and a general glamorization of the new trend. This is oddly reminiscent of those old cigarette ads that are now illegal to produce today.
E-cigarettes have become a health issue that brings to mind the tobacco industry in its infancy. Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, states, “There’s no question that a puff on an e-cigarette is less toxic than a puff on a regular cigarette.” The lack of information currently available is not enough to determine how safe or unsafe e-cigarettes truly are, but if you’re looking for an aide to quit smoking, other alternatives exist with more definitive research to back them up.
-Bryan Díaz, Editor
Lately, however, the industry has faced backlash. Like the early days of cigarette manufacture, very little is known concerning the short and long-term health effects of e-cigarettes, if any. Only a handful of peer-reviewed studies exist that tackle the issue of e-cigarette toxicity, and regulations surrounding the production and sale of e-cigarettes are nonexistent. This is all quite troubling, and the fact that Big Tobacco companies are catching on to this new trend is an unpleasant omen.
So how do e-cigarettes work? They use a vapor mechanism to heat up a vaping liquid solvent composed of water, propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine, and flavorings, producing a vapor mist that gives users a nicotine buzz. One of its many selling points is the fact that it contains no tobacco, and in turn does not produce cigarette smoke, which solidifies as tar in the lungs. Another proposed benefit is that the number of contaminants and toxins inhaled are zero. Thus, it seems a no-brainer when it comes to the question of whether or not a smoker should trade the habit of smoking traditional cigarettes for e-cigarettes.
A study published in a 2012 issue of the journal Tobacco Control, found
that among 12 e-cigarette brands, the amount of toxins were significantly lower than in cigarette smoke. The research, conducted at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, seems to provide evidence that e-cigarettes are relatively safe. Similarly, in a study published in the September 2014 issue of the journal Addiction, researchers found that when attempting to quit, one fifth of smokers using electronic cigarettes quit smoking, as opposed to just one tenth of smokers who quit through the use of nicotine patches or gum. These results corroborate the idea that e-cigarettes are an effective quitting-aide.
So e-cigarettes are comparatively safer than cigarettes, and a great way to cut the habit, right?
Well, the studies in Addiction used loosely controlled variables, and the 2012 study in Tobacco Control is already outdated. The e-cigarette technology has advanced, and those sold today are much stronger in their nicotine content and contain different ingredients. In fact, many of the brands featured in the previous study are no longer on the market. So when the Roswell Park Cancer Institute published a new study in May 2014, their findings were alarming. They showed that with enough heat the vaping liquids were capable of thermally breaking down to carbonyls, such as formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical, and acetaldehyde, another carcinogen. Thus, if users maximize the heating power on their devices while using vaping liquids, formaldehyde levels reach those found in tobacco smoke.
Another issue concerns the second hand smoke, or vapor. Two initial studies conducted by the American Lung Association have found formaldehyde, benzene, nitrosamines, and lung irritants within secondhand emissions. So where does the FDA stand on the issue? Until now, the organization has done nothing in the way of regulating the sale of these products. Companies are able to put their products on shelves without listing any ingredients, and make dubious claims. As states place bans on e-cigarettes in public places, and calls for the FDA to act increase, the organization is attempting to impose a policy for e-cigarette companies to label the ingredients of their products, but is this enough?
This comes at a time when Big Tobacco companies, like RJ Reynolds, the manufacturer of Camel and other cigarette brands, and NuMark – a company owned by Altaria, the manufacturer of Marlboro, are producing their own lines of e-cigarettes, called Vuse and Markten, respectively, that can be purchased at retailers today. Neither is the first Big Tobacco company to make its way into the market, however, as Lorillard, the manufacturer of Newport cigarettes, owns the dominating e-cigarette brand, Blu. Lorillard spent $40 million in 2013 marketing Blu e-cigarettes with television and magazine ads featuring celebrities promoting their product and a general glamorization of the new trend. This is oddly reminiscent of those old cigarette ads that are now illegal to produce today.
E-cigarettes have become a health issue that brings to mind the tobacco industry in its infancy. Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, states, “There’s no question that a puff on an e-cigarette is less toxic than a puff on a regular cigarette.” The lack of information currently available is not enough to determine how safe or unsafe e-cigarettes truly are, but if you’re looking for an aide to quit smoking, other alternatives exist with more definitive research to back them up.
-Bryan Díaz, Editor