The stringency of Internet age-verification measures varies across e-cigarette brands, according to a new study published March 7 in JAMA Pedriatics.
A team of researchers, led by Samir Soneji of Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine in Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA, reviewed the websites of 12 e-cigarette companies that held 98 percent of the retail market share in 2014 and 19 of their e-cigarette brands.
Of the site reviewed, two had no age-verification gates, five posting warnings, 10 required users to click/check that they were old enough to use the site, one required users to enter their birth date, and one required a detailed registration
Following reports that the EU is planning to tax electronic cigarettes under the same regime as applies to tobacco cigarettes, the UK Labour peer and medical professional Lord Turnberg told the House of Lords that such a move would have a detrimental impact on public health, according to a story by Shaun Connolly for the Press Association News.
Lord Hung of Kings Heath questioned why the EU was trying to “make it much more difficult for e-cigarettes to be promoted” despite e-cigs’ “clear benefit to the public health”.
And the Conservative, Viscount Ridley, suggested that EU regulations on electronic cigarette promotions could be a result of pressure from the pharmaceutical industry that is worried about the nicotine replacement therapy market losing market share to electronic cigarettes.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean said the British government was powerless to stop the EU when “these e-cigarettes cost less … [and] enable people to save their health”.
However, Lord Prior of Brampton, minister for NHS Productivity, was quoted as saying: “Any proposal on an excise duty is not part of the directive as I understand it. We should be promoting this product, not discouraging it.”
Neil McKeganey and Christopher Russell of the Centre for Substance Use Research in Glasgow, Scotland, cautioned against a “new McCarthyism” in the area of e-cigarette research.
The scientists responded to a commentary in Addiction, in which Jim McCambridge of the University of York advocates a ban on industry-funded e-cigarette research and a creation of a register of financial and other disclosures that “does not rely exclusively upon self-disclosure,” with no statute of limitations.
McKeganey and Russell said McCambridge is effectively calling for a list that is “based on suspicion, innuendo, some level of detective work, and unsubstantiated allegation.”
McKeganey and Russell also said McCambridge’s proposal is a “new McCarthyism in which allegation stands in place of evidence and where the appearance upon such a blacklist could destroy a researcher’s career,” and risks undermining “the openness, and the free exchange of knowledge and understanding, that is at the very heart of the scientific enterprise.”
Konstantinos Farsalinos of Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Greece questioned the validity of a Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) claim that the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in e-cigarettes is a million times higher than that in roadside air.
The HKBU study, commissioned by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health, examined 13 types of e-cigarettes and reported that the level of PAHs in the devices ranged from 2.9 to 504.5 nanograms per milliliter, which HKBU’s assistant professor of biology Chung Shan-shan said is “at least one million times more than roadside air in Hong Kong.”
The level of poly-brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a flame retardant used in furniture and electronic products, ranged from 1.7 to 1,490 ng/mL, compared with the PBDE level of 5.6 to 6.3 ng/mL measured in samples of regular cigarettes.
Farsalinos pointed out that PAHs are released from burning substances like gasoline or tobacco, but there is no combustion in e-cigarettes.
Looking at the numbers given in the HKBU study, Farsalinos said a 1998 paper from the Hong Kong University of Science Technology found PAH levels at up to 48 ng per cubic meter or 1 million mL of air, meaning that the HKBU researcher compared milliliters of air to milliliters of e-liquid, which Farsalinos said is “simply and outrageously ridiculous.”
Farsalinos added that since the average volume of air that humans breathe daily is about 20 cubic meters or 20 million mL, outdoor air in Hong Kong would result in total daily PAH exposure of 960 ng.
Given that an average vaper consumes 3 mL of e-liquid according to Konstantinos’ 2014 study, and assuming that HKBU’s measurements of PAHs in e-cigs are correct, the daily PAH exposure from e-cigarettes would be about 9-1500 ng, or a range between 99 percent less and 50 percent more than exposure to outdoor air, making the HKBU’s claim “completely false,” Farsalinos explained.
The U.S. Transportation Department plans to ban vaping on airlines, reports USA Today.
The new rule applies to passengers on all U.S. and foreign airlines with flights within, into or out of the country, the department said. The ban takes effect 30 days from publication March 4 in the Federal Register.
Smoking traditional cigarettes has been banned on airliners for 30 years.
“This final rule is important because it protects airline passengers from unwanted exposure to aerosol fumes that occur when electronic cigarettes are used onboard airplanes,” Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was quoted as saying.
The department said it was taking action to avoid any confusion about smoking and vaping.
Some individual airlines had already banned e-cigarettes.
R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. is introducing its Vuse Fob power unit with Bluetooth technology in the United States.
“We are excited about bringing this truly innovative device to adult tobacco consumers, and we believe it will get a lot of attention because nothing else like it exists in the market today,” said Carlos Lindo, president of RJR Vapor Co. “Vuse Fob has state-of-the-art technology built in, and the design is sleek and sophisticated.”
Vuse Fob power units fit in the palm of the hand and are pocket-friendly. An on-device display provides real-time information about battery and cartridge levels, and gives consumers the ability to dim the display.
The device can be paired with a mobile app that has several features, including two locks, a hard lock and a proximity lock, that prevent youth and/or others from using the device. The mobile app also gives more detailed information about battery and cartridge levels.
Vuse Fob works with the same Vuse cartridges as Vuse Solo and Vuse Connect. The cartridges are available at retail stores nationally.
Vuse cartridges fit into the device and are retractable, minimizing the exposure of the mouthpiece to dirty surfaces.
“Vuse Fob has several distinguishing features, and it is tapping into the emerging trend of ‘The Internet of Things,’ seamlessly connecting everyday physical devices to the world of smartphones, computers and tablets,” Lindo said. “We continue to innovate in the smoke-free vapor space to make products that meet the rapidly changing demands of adult tobacco consumers. This is truly transforming the tobacco industry.”
A new study shows that the daily exposure to formaldehyde from three different types of e-cigarettes is well below the levels considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO), at less than a sixth of the indoor air quality standard.
“In cigarette smoke, most formaldehyde is produced as the result of burning sugars naturally present in tobacco as well as added sugars and glycerol,” explains Sandra Costigan, principal toxicologist for e-cigarettes at British American Tobacco, “whereas in vaping products, it is generally produced as a thermal breakdown product of glycerol and propylene glycol (PG).
Glycerol and PG are used to make the e-liquid and dilute the nicotine and flavoring. There has been a lot of material published recently on the amount of formaldehyde released from e-cigarettes.
Formaldehyde is classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research of Cancer and is thought to contribute to the development of tobacco-related disease. For this reason, there has been some concern over the possible health effects of inhaling formaldehyde released into the aerosol of e-cigarettes.
“In this study, we measured the formaldehyde produced in the aerosol of three different e-cigarettes formats,” Costigan said.
Three types of vaping products were studied: a rechargeable “cigalike” device; a refillable open-tank system, also called a clearomiser, and a closed modular system with variable voltage. Where there was a choice, the products were tested under worst-case, high-voltage conditions, under which the most formaldehyde would be produced.
Consumer use of the products was surveyed to establish real world use patterns. A total of 350 puffs per day represents a realistic estimate of the intense use for these products.
Lab-based vaping robots were programmed so that they produced vapor in a realistic way and the formaldehyde levels in this vapor were measured.
The results showed that even the worst case amount of formaldehyde per 10 puffs of the e-cigarettes tested, was over 10 times less than the formaldehyde from a 3R4F reference cigarette smoked under standard ISO conditions.
Using 350 puffs per day, and assuming a standard breathing volume of 20m3 over 24 hours, average daily formaldehyde concentrations were calculated for the different products. For all products, these were well below a variety of formaldehyde safety benchmarks such as the threshold for throat and respiratory tract irritation, the European REACh Derived No Effect Level, occupational exposure guidelines, and the WHO guidelines for indoor air quality for selected pollutants which includes a guideline on formaldehyde levels.
“We believe e-cigarettes hold great potential for reducing tobacco-related disease. For this reason, we continue to strive to better define and further reduce any residual risks that there may be, to as low a level as possible,” said Costigan.
“The results from this study show that even heavy use of these products still only results in daily formaldehyde exposure that is less than one sixth of the exposure from breathing indoor air that complies with WHO air quality standards,” she said.
The results will be presented today at the annual conference of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in Chicago.
When the EU’s finance ministers meet on March 8, they are expected to endorse the European Commission’s drafting in 2017 of an ‘appropriate legislative proposal’ to tax electronic cigarettes under the same regime as cigarettes are taxed, according to an Euobserver story relayed by the TMA.
The ministers reportedly have said that electronic cigarettes and other novel products could cause ‘inconsistencies and legal uncertainty’ in the single market if they remained exempt from excise taxes.
And they apparently added that excise taxes or some ‘other specifically designed tax’ on novel products could help meet public health objectives.
However, Olivier Hoedeman of the Brussels-based pro-transparency non-governmental organization Corporate Europe Observatory said it would be “awkward” to put electronic cigarettes in the same category as regular cigarettes if the science wasn’t there yet.
The ministers have said that work on the new tax regime should be intensified if the market share of the novel products shows a tendency to increase.
The Euobserver piece reported that the ministers’ ‘draft conclusions’ said the European Commission was not ‘obliged to tax electronic cigarettes’, but if it did not act, EU members would want to know the reasons for such inaction.
Current EU rules require all EU countries to impose an excise tax of at least 57 percent on tobacco products, but in the case of electronic cigarettes most countries impose only VAT, at about 20 percent.
An EU official said the next steps would be to undertake studies, carry out impact assessments, and conduct a public consultation.
Researchers from University College London (UCL) estimate that the use of electronic cigarettes produced 16,000-22,000 additional long-term quitters in England in 2014, according to an Eurekalert story. A long-term quitter is someone who has not smoked for at least a year.
The UCL team, whose study was published in the journal Addiction, has been tracking the rise in the use of electronic cigarettes using monthly national surveys, and estimates that in 2014 about 891,000 smokers used one of these products to try to quit.
Professor Robert West, who led the research team, was quoted as saying that electronic cigarettes appeared to be helping a significant number of smokers to stop who would not have done otherwise – not as many as some electronic cigarette enthusiasts claimed, but a substantial number nonetheless.
“There have been claims by some public health researchers that e-cigarettes undermine quitting if smokers use them just to cut down, and that they act as a gateway into smoking,” said West.
“These claims stem from a misunderstanding of what the evidence can tell us at this stage, but this is clearly something we need to watch carefully.”
Meanwhile, a story by the ITV Network reported that the research had been welcomed by the director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, Professor Peter Hajek, who had said he hoped it might help develop new ways of supporting people through quitting.
“E-cigarettes have a potential to reduce smoking related morbidity and many smokers are successful in making the switch from smoking to vaping,” he said.
“Specialist smoking cessation services are currently not offering e-cigarettes and are seeing a marked decline in interest. This is unfortunate, as it is likely that even more smokers would switch to vaping successfully if e-cigarettes were combined with behavioral support that the services provide.
“Hopefully, findings like this will encourage the services to start offering e-cigarettes as a part of their overall toolkit.”
Nerudia and Broughton Laboratories are partnering to support customers in complying with the requirements of the European Tobacco Products Directive (TPD), which comes into effect on May 20.
The partnership brings together the strengths and expertise of the two companies and will bring cost benefits to customers through economies of scale and knowledge, along with the convenience of having a single point of contact between the two businesses.
“The analytical capabilities and expertise of Broughton Laboratories are a perfect fit with Nerudia’s regulatory knowledge and our own services,” says Peter Beckett, Nerudia’s head of compliance.
“Our partnership will bring cost-effective and accessible services to the entire market, from the smaller firms up to larger organisations, as we believe that the cost of TPD should not be prohibitive to anyone.”
“The partnership of Nerudia and Broughton Laboratories means that clients will receive a premium level of service for both regulatory support and emissions testing studies for EU TPD compliance,” says Chris Allen, managing director of Broughton Laboratories.
“Combining our experience and expertise of working within global regulated industries enables us to offer clients a pragmatic and scientifically-sound approach to complying with the EU TPD regulations.
“Alongside Nerudia Compliance we will continue to work closely with the MHRA and other EU Member States to develop, establish and promote international quality standards for the electronic cigarette industry. We believe this will help our clients achieve success.”
To mark the partnership, the companies will offer of 10 percent discount on all analytical and regulatory services booked during March.
For further information please contact compliance@nerudia.com