FDA: Electronic cigarettes are a no-no

Here's an item that you shouldn't include in your ever-growing arsenal of electronic devices, including cellphones, iPods, PDAs, GPS trackers and laptops: the e-cigarette. The Food and Drug Administration today released an analysis of 19 varieties of electronic cigarettes that says that half contained nitrosamines (the same carcinogen found in real cigarettes) and that many contained diethylene glycol, the poisonous ingredient in antifreeze. Some that claimed to have no nicotine were found to have low levels of the drug.

E-cigarettes are promoted by their manufacturers as safer than traditional cigarettes because they do not burn tobacco. Instead, a lithium battery in the cigarette-shaped device heats a solution of nicotine in propylene glycol, producing a fine mist that can be inhaled to deliver nicotine directly to the lungs. An LED glows red at the tip and they even emit puffs of white smoke similar to that seen in stage shows. The devices are available in more than 4,000 retail outlets nationwide, as well as on many websites, with a starting cost of $40 to $70. Over the last year, sales have grown from about $10 million to $100 million, according to the Electronic Cigarette Assn., the industry's trade group. They also come in a variety of flavors, including chocolate, mint and apple, which make them appealing to children and adolescents.

Most of the e-cigarettes are produced in China, where they have become very popular. The varieties tested by FDA, however, were produced by Smoking Everywhere, a Florida company, and Njoy Cigarettes of Scottsdale, Ariz. In a telephone news conference, agency officials said "quality control processes used to manufacture these products are inconsistent or nonexistent."

They have become very controversial. Some countries, like Australia, have banned them because their health risks are unknown. Action on Smoking and Health, an anti-tobacco group headed by activist John Banzhaf, has petitioned the FDA to regulate the products and Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) has called on the agency to remove them from the market immediately, a call that has been echoed by the American Heart Assn., the American Lung Assn. and other groups.

Even though the e-cigarettes are marketed as healthy, critics charge that the delivery of nicotine directly to the lungs speeds its passage to the brain, enhancing the drug's addictive properties. Critics also said the devices are appealing to the young and could serve as a learning aid to promote smoking of actual cigarettes. Stop-smoking experts say the devices are not useful for ending cigarette addiction because they do nothing to interrupt the hand-to-mouth behavior that is an integral part of the habit.

For its part, the FDA has classified e-cigarettes as a drug delivery device, which subjects them to regulation and requires proof of safety. The agency has been examining and detaining the product at the border, halting more than 50 shipments, but has not taken any steps to remove it from the U.S. market. The FDA has been sued by manufacturers that say the agency has no jurisdiction over the device because it is not marketed as a stop-smoking aid.

The discovery of carcinogens and toxins in at least two products may encourage the FDA to step up its actions against manufacturers. The agency, however, has not said whether it will move against the makers of the tested products.

"Electronic cigarettes should be absolutely avoided because they clearly have toxic elements," said Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, a pulmonologist at New York University Langone Medical Center. "It is proven now that electronic cigarettes contain toxic elements. Electronic cigarettes play no role in smoking cessation and don't add to a healthier lifestyle."

-- Thomas H. Maugh II

Photo: The inventor of an electronic cigarette, Hon Lik, smokes his invention in Beiijng earlier this year.

Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Comments

[Shantyhag]

@Bob: "I love all of the comments that say the data results are incorrect, yet you cannot cite one legitimate, independent, scientific study to refute it. Stop with your superlatives."

Here you go. Legitimate, independent, scientific study:
http://www.healthnz.co.nz/2ndSafetyReport_9Apr08.pdf

Hope that helps.

[Jean]

Thomas H. Maugh II took the time to research one side of the story very well.

CNN and NBC both aired pieces that were far more comprehensive with the FDA's findings, some details of the study, response from the ECA and from a ecig user. I recommend checking out those publications for a more intelligent view of the situation than Mr Maugh and the LA Times have chosen to share.

Here is mine, for what it is worth:

E-Cigs work to quit where patch, hypnosis, pills, etc. at great expense that went into Big Mama Pharma

Are they Healthy? No, breathing air is healthy. They are made out of cake decorations + nicotine though, which gets to our next point:

Are they not as bad as cigarettes? Absolutely

I'm all for a real study (not 19 cartridges in one lab, that is the equivalent of testing 19 cigarettes and basing all our legislation on that) and legislation to make sure that the claims of selling these things to kids remain just that, and to make sure that if there is someone out there putting antifreeze in the stuff, that it doesn't end up in my vaporizer. I would say it should require a prescription, but health care costs are a pretty big can of worms of there own right now ;-)

For this to happen, the ECA is going to have to find room somewhere in the lobby between the tobacco guys that want you to keep smoking, and the pharma guys that want you to keep trying to quit with expensive garbage.

[FXR]

""Electronic cigarettes should be absolutely avoided because they clearly have toxic elements," said Dr. Jonathan Whiteson, a pulmonologist at New York University Langone Medical Center. "It is proven now that electronic cigarettes contain toxic elements. Electronic cigarettes play no role in smoking cessation and don't add to a healthier lifestyle.""

Is this guy completely brain damaged? He is certainly out of touch in respect of the subject matter.

The same toxins in identical levels exist in smoking patches and nicotine chewing gum in those candy flavors targeting kids in the same way the fanatics and anti smoker bigots claim the tobacco company used to do it.

If the government is going to do marketing for a drug company using taxes to promote their scaremongering, they should at very least stick to the facts we demand in all other forms of advertising.

The FDA and the CDC need to worry about real risks like diesel exhaust and medical errors, and stop inventing new ones to distract us from what is much more urgent.

Similarly Doctors need to get away from preaching and treating the 90% of the population who are well, at the expense of the ill who are being neglected while waiting in the same line.

[Melissa]

Picked up an e-cigarette on a whim at a mall kiosk. I had no intention of quitting.
Guess what - have not smoked since buying my e-cig. I am 46 years old and starting smoking at the age of 16. Patches, gum, zyban, acupuncture, meditation, nothing helped me quit. Thanks FDA for taking away the only product that DOES help.

[Zendruid]

I just wanted to say that I am not employed by or affiliated with any e-cigarette company. I'm a massage therapist, so the only "bias" I have is from my own personal experience with the e-cig.

I have completely quit using tobacco in about a week and a half period of time. I used to smoke a pack-and-a-half to 2 packs of cigarettes a day. I could feel what they were doing to me. The e-cig (the Titan, model 510 to be specific) helped me quit much easier than any patches, gum, or any "approved" smoking cessation method that I've used (unsuccessfully) in the past. The odd thing? This time I wasn't really trying to quit altogether, just cut down. The quitting of cigarettes just kind of happened as I vaporized. This is actually a common story among e-smokers (or "vapers" as we like to call ourselves). Besides, e-cigs (at least, by more reputable companies) are NOT sold as a "smoking cessation device", but as a smoking ALTERNATIVE. There are also no claims of it being 100% safe (which nothing is), but that it is SAFER than cigarettes. I'm pretty darn sure that's a given! My body knows the difference and is feeling less and less like a smoker as it adjusts from the lack of tobacco.

The carcinogenic "nitrosiamines" that were found (in trace amounts equalling less than 1%) are also found in "approved" smoking cessation devices, you can't extract nicotine without having trace amounts of the nitrosiamines. The DEG (which was probably substituted as a cheap form of the food-additive PG or propylene glycol) was only found in Smoking Everywhere's High-strength 555 flavor. Smoking Everywhere is known to vapers for not being the best e-cig company. Many consider them a rip-off. Why doesn't the FDA test fluid from more reputable companies (also those that don't have stake in a lawsuit against the FDA)? Totally Wicked E-Liquid for example, often sends out samples of their e-liquid to a lab and PUBLICLY PUBLISHES THE LAB RESULTS.

Due to lobbyists and the political pressures from Big Tobacco and Big Pharma, the FDA is looking for reasons to shut down the e-cig. It is most definitely screwing with their cash flow. So they publish biased results (with propaganda wording) and claim vaping to be unsafe before doing THOROUGH testing of multiple brands of the product... the same thing they'd do with other possible "health-threats". Why? Well, isn't that obvious?

[Kirk Lane]

As a recent purchaser of my first E-cig in early July I have gone from smoking over a pack a day to 3-5 per day and it won't be long until those 3-5 go away and I will smoke nothing but my E-cig. In these reports I've seen a number of companies named but the company that I got mine from, MyInLife, doesn't promote them as a cessation device, nor a healthy, safer alternative to smoking. It promotes them as a smoking alternative....period! As far as I know MyInLife is also the only company that allows the public to not only be comsumers but also to be Independent Distributors, allowing you to join the team and maybe make a few bucks along the way. I urge anyone that wants more info to visit www.logicalsmokers.com to get involved with, what I consider, the best E-cigarette company out the with the best product.

Kirk Lane

[Terri]

Has anyone else noticed or is it just me?? Have you ever wondered why the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society would want them to ban the e-cig?? I think it is really a sad deal because what it all boils down to is MONEY, MONEY, MONEY!!! The American Lung Association does not want smoke to enter into anyone's lungs, right? And the American Cancer Society wants to stop and cure cancer, right?

For the American Lung Association: W-A-T-E-R, S-T-E-AM Get it, no smoke!
For the American Cancer Society: U GO SMOKE THAT CANCER STICK!!!! With all of that money your organization has raised over the years, you have the gawl to sit there and tell me "sorry folks no cure yet??" And if you did, what would happen to your organization?? Oh, I see. No Money coming in!! Got ya.

I would like to see everyone do your own research!!! I did. And then compare the e-cig and the traditional tobacco side by side. The e-cig wins hands down. Even the non-smokers will wind up loving the e-cig. Because all we have heard for years from non-smokers is how much they hated the second hand smoke. Well, now you no longer have to worry, your wish is my command. Don't smoke, VAPE

[Steve Hartwell]

The FDA are being very 'selective' in what they are saying about Diethylene glycol. Sure, it is used in coolants, such as car anti-freeze. Diethylene glycol is also widely used as a humectant, a moisturizer, for tobacco, which is probably where it came from in the nicotine being used for those Ecigs, and easily eliminated if required to. BUT, it is also used in skin cream and lotions, deodorants, cough syrup, toothpaste, and mouthwash, and to make sweet wines. The nitrosamines come from flu-cured tobacco, and easily eliminated. Yes, nicotine is addictive, as is caffeine, neither of which have been causally linked to any disease. Indeed both are used to treat diseases. Anti-smokers have taken over the FDA and are now waging a similar campaign against Ecigs of obfuscation, misinformation, and outright junk science lies, to deliberately promulgate false fears by implied association in the minds of the public, based on nothing at all. The FDA lies about a lot of other products too.

[janice]

I have never smoked an e cig. I smoke 1/2- 3/4 pack a day. I know it isn't good for me. I have a high IQ. I didn't start smoking because i thought it was healthy. I new it was unhealthy. I had to view tarred lungs in a jar at the age of ten. It was horrifying.
I choose to smoke. I might try a e-cig if they aren't banned.

I find it ridiculous that the FDA will approve something like CHANTIX which has horrible and serious side effects while wanting to ban ecigs. Hell, they let us eat all kinds of carcinogenic foods, perservatives and additives without blinking.

NEWSFLASH. people who smoke choose to smoke and they know labels like "light" "ultralight" don't mean that cigarette is safer.

Most people that go to the bar and get sloshed every weekend know it isn't good for them. Most people that choose to take home a different person every weekend know that it isn't a healthy choice.

BUT THAT IS THEIR CHOICE. That is what liberty is about. The freedom to be responsible for your own choices.

The FDA gives people a false sense of security and then "oops" that drug is killing people or that peanut butter is tainted.

Until the FDA treats all vices as equally harmful then they can screw off. Crippled drunks waiting for state sponsored transplants and hepatitis infected hookers should get the same scrutiny as smokers or we should all be left the hell alone.

[jredheadgirl]

Sooooo...They admit that even if a reduction in health risks can (er..or have already been) be achieved, they will not change their position, (which started off on a health claim..); well, because it's not really about health, it's about the hatred towards the "act" of smoking....Or the desire to create a monopoly over profits from nicotine or anything else that might be deemed "pleasurable" to the adult demographic.

[Justin]

For those of you who do not know.....RJ Reynolds is in the production stages of its own e cigarette. All the negative attention and publicity is a stunt to kill the market until they can get their version to market. The strategy? Knock off as many of the "little guys" in the market, then market theirs as "different" and better. Not to mention big pharma companies who are losing money. You know, the ones who make patches and gum AND Chantix. Chantix the drug that is causing MAJOR behavioral problems and COSTS 140 a month. Yet the e cigarette is BAD? After smoking for 26 years, I stopped immediately after switching to the e cigarette. I had no weight gain, was not irritable, and cut my nicotine dosage over the course of a few months by over half. I no longer cough or have sinus problems. I think this article is wrecklessly written, not researched and hugely one sided. Don't take my word for it, look up Dr. Joel Nitzkins letter to Senator Lautenberg. Dr. Nitzkin told Mr Lautenberg that before the e cigarette, the other no smoking methods FAILED 95% of those who tried to quit. I was one of those 95%. The bottom line is this is really about big companies losing money, and articles like this one are no more than propaganda to help them put the little guys out of business.

[E Cigarettes]

Electronic Cigarettes Fact vs FDA Fiction

FDA news release claims that electronic cigarette products are potentially poisonous, but the real story is that the evidence is skewed and twisted in favor of the FDA’s original, unproven stance on e-cigarettes. Learn why here.

FDA Says…

Electronic cigarettes may be dangerous to the health of those who use them. Diethylene glycol is deadly poisonous.

The Truth:

The FDA found one chemical, diethylene glycol, in only 1 of the 18 cartridges that they tested and it was at a concentration of 1%.

Diethylene glycol is used as a humectant in tobacco products such as cigarettes and the 1% concentration found in that single cartridge is no more dangerous than a cigarette.

FDA Says…

Electronic cigarettes are not known to be safer than tobacco cigarettes.

The Truth:

The CDC has associated tobacco smoke with over 4,000 toxic chemicals, many of them known to be carcinogenic. A short list of the toxic chemicals (some of them may be known to you) found in tobacco smoke:

· Acetone (fingernail polish remover)

· Cadmium (used in batteries)

· Carbon Monoxide (car exhaust)

· Hydrogen Cyanide (poison)

· Arsenic (poison)

· DDT/Dieldrin (pesticide banned in the 1970’s)

· Ethanol (alcohol)

· Butane (lighter fluid)

· Ammonia

· Methane

· Polonium 210 (poison, radioactive)

Dr. Peter Zimmerman at the New York Times stated in 2006 that Polonium 210 is “surprisingly common… polonium sources with about 10% of a lethal dose are readily available – even in a product sold on Amazon.com.” in a commentary on the poisoning of a former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.

FDA Says…

Electronic cigarettes are appealing to children due to the different flavors cartridges are available in.

The Truth:

Products meant strictly for adult consumption are found all over the United States in gas stations and department stores. Flavored cough syrups, energy drinks, energy shots, personal lubricants, and more products litter gas stations and department stores around the country and there has been no public outcry against them. Nor has there been any outcry concerning novelty cigarette lighters shaped like footballs, guns, and other things that a child would find appealing. These lighters are available at the checkout counters of gas stations nationwide and no one seems to believe they encourage a child to play with fire.

FDA Says…

Approved stop smoking products are safe, electronic cigarettes are not.

The Truth:

Stop smoking aids Chantix and Zyban are known by their manufacturers to cause suicidal tendencies and as many as 100 people are known to have committed suicide while on the drugs. The FDA allows these products to stay on the market while knowing that they have caused people harm and have said in a news release that the numbers should not stop smokers from using the drugs. Chantix has killed 100 people and they refuse to pull it from the market. 1% diethylene glycol in 1 out of 18 cartridges is insignificant, especially when diethylene glycol is used as a humectant in tobacco cigarettes.

FDA Says…

Tobacco-specific impurities, cotinine, anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine were found in half of the cartridge samples tested.

The Truth:

Cotinine, anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine are related to nicotine and are found in tobacco cigarettes.

Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine and is found in tobacco cigarettes. The Foundation for Blood Research states that cotinine itself is not known to be harmful.

http://www.fbr.org/publications/pamphlets/cotinine.html

Anabasine is found in all tobacco products.

According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, “… consumption of nuts and nut products is a new as yet unknown source for human myosmine exposure.”

Some studies have shown that these chemicals may also be present in nicotine replacement therapies such as nicotine gums and patches. Tobacco-specific nitrosamines are formed by nicotine itself, so no product containing nicotine is able to be completely free of them. All nicotine formulations, including those in nicotine gums and patches approved by the FDA, will contain traces of the chemicals found in e-cigarettes (cotinine, anabasine, myosmine, and β-nicotyrine).

Additionally, nitrosamines are also commonly found in cosmetics, but are not listed on labels because they are considered “impurities”. Personal care products including mascara, conditioner, baby shampoo, and others may contain nitrosamines.

http://www.safecosmetics.org/article.php?id=293

FDA Says…

Their test results should be proof that electronic cigarettes are unsafe and should not be used by smokers as an alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes or as a stop smoking aid.

The Truth:

The FDA’s test results prove what e-cigarette manufacturers and retailers have been saying all along: they are safer than tobacco cigarettes. The FDA has no intention of banning tobacco cigarettes (which are known to kill 400,000 people in the United States a year and contain 4,000+ chemicals) because the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act specifically prevents the FDA from banning them.

Passage Preventing Cigarette Ban:

‘(3) LIMITATION ON POWER GRANTED TO THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION- Because of the importance of a decision of the Secretary to issue a regulation–

‘(A) banning all cigarettes, all smokeless tobacco products, all little cigars, all cigars other than little cigars, all pipe tobacco, or all roll-your-own tobacco products; or

‘(B) requiring the reduction of nicotine yields of a tobacco product to zero,

the Secretary is prohibited from taking such actions under this Act.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-1256&version=enr&nid=t0%3Aenr%3A384

Cigarettes may not be banned by the FDA nor are they authorized to force tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine levels in their products to zero according to this legislation.

One of the doctors responsible for the test results the FDA released this week, Joshua Sharfstein, the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner was the health policy advisor for Congressman Henry Waxman (the man who originally sponsored the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act which prevents cigarettes from being outlawed).

FDA Says…

In 2007, the FDA admitted that it is burdened with a “plethora of inadequacies” and is currently so underfunded that they are not able to properly do their jobs. As recently as July 20th of this year, the Government Accountability Office states that the FDA still doesn’t have enough money to do everything it needs to do and of the 500,000+ complaints filed against products, the FDA has no clue which complaints have been addressed and which ones have even been read.

The Truth:

That is the truth. The FDA doesn’t have enough money to do their jobs and while they focus their energy on eliminating a product that is safer than tobacco cigarettes and cheaper than the pharmaceutical drug pushers’ Chantix, Zyban, patches, and gums, people continue to die of smoking-related illness.

Before finding traces of melamine in US formula, the FDA had this to say about the melamine-contaminated infant formula in China: “FDA is currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns.”

Statement on Infant Formula Manufactured in China in October, 2008:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm070019.htm

The very next month when melamine was found in trace amounts of infant formula made in the United States, the FDA had this to say:

“The levels we are detecting are extremely low. They should not be changing the diet. If they’ve been feeding a particular product, they should continue to feed that product. That’s in the best interest of the baby.”

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/26/world/main4633848.shtml

The companies whose formula contained melamine are Nestle, Mead Johnson, Abbott Laboratories make 90% of the infant formula sold in the United States.

Unfortunately, the point is this: the FDA will say anything if it fits their agenda.

Chemical and bacterial outbreaks have run rampant the past few years, salmonella being found in everything from tomatoes to spinach to peanuts and while they can’t seem to get their first priority under control (which is food), they concentrate on trying to control a product that has the potential to eliminate millions of dollars worth of tax revenue at all levels of government.

Read the FDA’s study results (not news articles about their study results) here:

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ScienceResearch/UCM173250.pdf

[MSD]

http://www.3news.co.nz/Row-breaks-out-over-safety-of-e-cigarettes/tabid/420/articleID/113909/cat/73/Default.aspx
"New Zealand researchers are clashing with US health officials over a new anti-smoking aid, after a world-first trial was run by Auckland University."

[Roy From Atwater]

@Mglacc

"Could you please give us a link to these statistics that determine the relative intelligence of smokers and non-smokers?"

My comment was meant to suggest that a less intelligent person was more likely to start smoking:

http://www.medkb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/med/10943/smoker-data

However it appears that smoking itself lowers your IQ as well:

http://psychologists.blogspot.com/2006/09/does-smoking-cigarettes-cause-drop-in.html

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mother%27s+smoking+linked+to+child%27s+IQ+drop-a014818068

BTW, I am aware that there are some brilliant people that smoke and, by the same token there are some idiots that do not...there will always be outliers and I stand by my original statement.

[ryan patton]

E-Cigs are better.

[Michael E cigarettes]

Hey Everyone, there are many valid points being made here. I would just like to say that Traditional cigarettes have 4000 chemicals, and are way worse compared to electronic cigarettes. NOW are electronic cigarettes 100% safe?? of course not, but no body is claiming that it is. So lets allow adults to make their own decision, and if they wish to try e cigarettes http://www.electroniccigarettesource.com let them, they will be be way better off in the long term, because e cigs have no SMOKE no odor, and they don't stain your teeth, and the water vapor is not the same as giving off second hand smoke. Please visit the Electronic cigarette association and read the valuable info that they have on there.

[Jason Katzwinkel]

Recent Study Indicates That the FDA May Contain Trace Elements of Bos Taurus Egesta

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced that a laboratory analysis of electronic cigarette samples has found that they contain carcinogens and toxic chemicals such as diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze."

Do you happen to have a beverage at your side? What is it? ... Wait, what? Are you serious? O'm'gawd, your drink contains an ingredient used in antifreeze! Yeah, that's right. Water. The term "... is an ingredient used in antifreeze" is the comestible, fear-mongering equivalent of "... then the terrorists win."

I must concede that diethylene glycol is indeed toxic. That much is true. But how toxic is it? It possesses one-tenth the toxicity of household aspirin, not to mention one-fortieth the toxicity of nicotine, the primary component in e-cigaratte vapor and administered in much higher doses. So why is the FDA focusing on diethylene glycol? Because if they told you that e-cigarettes contain trace amounts of aspirin and nicotine you'd stare blankly and shrug your shoulders. But when somebody starts throwing around a term like diethylene glycol, people pay attention because nobody knows what the hell it means and it doesn't sound like something you necessarily want a tall frosty mug of.

Or is it? Diethylene glycol is also an ingredient found in toothpaste, mouthwash, cough syrup, dog food, wine and cigars among plenty of other consumer products. Do you know what it is not an ingredient of? Antifreeze. Propylene glycol is used in antifreeze. Diethylene glycol is used in coolants. Let's get our scare tactics straight, shall we?

I'm reminded of city officials in Aliso Veijo, California who nearly proposed a ban on polystyrene containers because they heard that Styrofoam cups may contain dihydrogen monoxide, "a colorless, odorless chemical that is the primary component of acid rain and is lethal when inhaled." What is dihydrogen monoxide? H2O.

[Bill]

Wax philosophical all you want, but the bottom line is that it is OBVIOUSLY far safer than smoking tobacco. Leave us poor, stupid nicotine addicts alone and let us get our fix. I thought we lived in America... Sad the way things have turned out.

[Jack]

Many naysayer commenters think this is a good product and compare it to tobacco without differentiating between chemically altered tobacco and natural tobacco not altered with chemicals... even the FDA doesn't acknowledge a difference in tobacco products altered by chemicals and those that are not. And most people are too ignorant to know the difference.

The MSDS for PROPYLENE GLYCOL http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/p6928.htm indicate no adverse health effects from inhalation, however the next section lists first aid measures for inhalation.

Beyond that, I'm sure the MSDS does not cover intentionally heating propylene glycol with a hot metal filament to inhale it... similarly there is no mention in the article about whatever is released from the heating element.

Potential Health Effects
----------------------------------

Inhalation:
No adverse health effects via inhalation.
Ingestion:
Relatively non-toxic. Ingestion of sizable amount (over 100ml) may cause some gastrointestinal upset and temporary central nervous system depression. Effects appear more severe in individuals with kidney problems.
Skin Contact:
Mild irritant and defatting agent, especially on prolonged contact.
Eye Contact:
May cause transitory stinging and tearing.
Chronic Exposure:
Lactic acidosis, stupor and seizures have been reported following chronic ingestion.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
Kidney disorders.

First Aid Measures

Inhalation:
Remove to fresh air. Not expected to require first aid measures.

[Jack]

Here's the link for the MSDS for ETHYLENE GLYCOL MONOETHYL ETHER http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/e2600.htm

Safer than tobacco as the above posters write... again ignorant of the difference between chemically altered and natural tobacco. I would bet most of you wouldn't even like natural tobacco, because it doesn't contain the chemicals you're addicted to. Just for the record, i smoke organic tobacco, allergic to the chemicals added to most tobacco products.

Potential Health Effects
----------------------------------

Inhalation:
Causes irritation to the respiratory tract. Symptoms may include sore throat, coughing, headache, nausea and shortness of breath. High concentrations have a narcotic effect.
Ingestion:
Swallowing may cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, breathing difficulties, weakness. Liver and kidney damage may result from swallowing large quantities of the material.
Skin Contact:
May cause irritation with redness and pain. May be absorbed through the skin with possible systemic effects.
Eye Contact:
Vapors are irritating and may produce immediate pain, redness and tearing. Splashes can cause severe pain, stinging, swelling.
Chronic Exposure:
Prolonged exposure may cause injury to bone marrow, blood cells, kidney, liver and reproductive system. A suspected human reproductive and birth defect hazard.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
Persons with pre-existing blood or central nervous system disorders may be more susceptible to the effects of this substance.

4. First Aid Measures

Inhalation:
Remove to fresh air. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen. Call a physician.

[Chris]

I stopped reading when you threw your own opinion above all else in your first sentence. "Here's an item that you shouldn't include in..."

I'm sure you haven't even researched it.

If anyone wants to know about this product and how much it has actually done in steps to improve peoples lives, please visit;

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/

[Tracy Harmon]

Please why can't we find a concrete answer about health risk concerning these e-cigs, I've been on other sites that contradicts what this article implies, I just want to stop smoking, I am afraid to use the e-cigs I've bought. Why can't testing be done?

[LaceyUnderall]

Wow. Where is the other side of this story?

It's certainly not in the media and I am beginning to wonder what has happened to journalism!

For those interested in reading more and verifying what some of the other commentors have noted, please visit:

http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com
http://www.e-cig.org
http://www.tobaccoharmreduction.org

These places are writing about what is REALLY going on around here. What the FDA is REALLY up to and why they REALLY don't want the electronic cigarette.

For those who are really interested in the problems with the FDA's report... and don't want to read further regurgitation of "press releases" in the newspaper... here you go... http://www.e-cig.org/2009/08/08/technical-review-and-analysis-of-fda-report-

Sorry to be so harsh... but this propaganda is getting ridiculous!

[Michelle]

I started smoking cigarettes when I was 10yrs old. My mothers. My fathers. Even stole some from the nun that taught me in school. Then learned how to get my own packs. I never smoked a "flavored" cigarette as a youngster.
By the time I was 13 I had a pack a day habit and confessed it to my parents.

Nobody I knew ever started smoking because of flavors. ALOT of people I have known started drinking because of flavors..
ALOT of people these days are OBESE because of flavor.
ALOT of people are eating themselves to death! And handing down this habit to their children.

HEY FDA..you want to regulate something, regulate that which kills more people every year than smoking, raises everyone's insurance costs, and is just plain UGLY to look at..
Fat People.
Start with those in your own AGENCY.
Or outlaw anything with more than 6grams of total carbs in it.

Leave those of us trying to improve our lifestyle alone. We don't need nannys.

I'm 54yrs old. That's 45 years as a smoker. I just started "vaping".
It's so nice to breath again, and after many years of failed quit attempts, I can finally say I don't smoke cigarettes anymore.

[ReturningTarzan]

Oh dear, has it come to this.

The FDA tested TWO varieties of electronic cigarette, not 19. They tested 19 different types of cartridge and found toxins in ONE. Please try reporting facts for once.

And try some critical journalism, like asking Dr. Whiteson if those trace quantities of carcinogens aren't found in nicotine gum and patches, too (which they are). They're also found in real cigarettes, except in much, much, much higher quantities along with dozens of other really nasty chemicals that aren't found in electronic cigarettes at all. Diethylene glycol, the only toxin found, which ("minor point") was found in only one of the 19 cartridges, is also found in real cigarettes.

The electronic cigarette is still the best thing that's happened in recent years in the fight against cancer and heart disease. The FDA study confirms that.