Research reveals bad news for fans of e-cigarettes

New research suggests that electronic cigarettes are not as harmless as advocates claim. But, are the findings enough to force the federal government to finally regulate the tobacco-free cigarette?

E-cigarettes are promoted as a quit-smoking tool and a healthier alternative to tobacco. Not so, according to a study due out soon in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.

“Contrary to the claims that are made in marketing e-cigarettes, they deliver cancer-causing chemicals and they also show that in some circumstances, for some chemicals such as formaldehyde, e-cigarettes can deliver as much as a conventional cigarette does,” said Dr. Stan Glantz, professor of medicine, who runs the Center for Tobacco Control, Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.

He said the new research focused on “tank-style” e-cigarettes that increase voltage to burn ingredients hot and fast to produce a lot of vapor.

“Some of the higher voltage systems, that they can deliver a lot more of the cancer-causing chemicals than people previously thought,” he explained.

King County decided to regulate e-cigarettes back in 2010.

“The Board of Health decided not to wait for federal regulations,” said Scott Neal, who runs King County’s Tobacco Prevention Program.

The county prohibits the sale of e-cigs to minors and restricts their use in the same places smoking is banned.

“I think precautionary-wise, the Board of Health acted in a way to protect public health and I haven’t had a chance to read the study, but if that’s what’s coming out now, that’s definitely something that would be a concern for us,” Neal commented.

Far less concerned is Jim Oliver, the owner of Tacoma’s Steampunk Vapory Lounge.

“Really, there are just four components. There’s propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, food flavoring and nicotine.” Oliver said harmful vapor emissions are at background levels and he’s not concerned about carcinogens.

“The one thing we know, it doesn’t have the 4,000 chemicals that you find in cigarettes. It doesn’t have the 40-60 known carcinogens that you find in cigarettes,” Oliver argued.

It’s estimated that 44 million Americans still smoke tobacco. Oliver considers e-cigs a safe alternative and hopes the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t overreact.

“In a perfect world, people would be breathing fresh air and nothing else but you’re really kind of throwing the baby out with the bath water by telling people, ‘Don’t trade this harm-reduction tool of vaping for your tobacco cigarettes because there is formaldehyde in it,'” said Oliver.

The FDA has issued a proposed rule to regulate e-cigarettes as a tobacco product. But the FDA is clearly not ready to clamp down.

“And they’ve been doing the studies,” said Oliver. “And they still don’t have data that says this is on the same plane of potential harm as cigarettes.”

Professor Glantz is critical of the FDA, which failed to act even though, he claims, it has plenty of evidence of the harmful effects of e-cigs.

“We already have enough knowledge about them to know that they tend to keep people smoking regular cigarettes, that use among kids is skyrocketing,” said Glantz.

But Oliver said the government must wait on the science, which is not there yet.

“The policies are being created and they’re based on fear and lack of knowledge and it’s just going to lead people back to tobacco and everybody agrees that’s the worst thing possible,” he said.

Professor Glantz can’t talk about it now but he’s promising to release results next week of the most comprehensive scientific review, yet, of e-cigarettes.