Myth vs. Fact on Electronic Cigarettes (Credits to the Electronic Cigarette Association)
*The following is information extracted from ECA's latest publication: Facts about Electronic Cigarettes. Greentip had no affiliations in creating this write-up. We only show appreciation for the research efforts put in by the ECA among other endeavors of theirs.
Myth: Electronic cigarettes are being sold to kids.
Fact: Electronic cigarettes are intended for committed smokers of the legal age to smoke. The industry advocates proper labeling, encourages retailers to check identification of customers, and insists that electronic cigarette companies in good standing validate age prior to transacting online purchases. The ECA has gone a step further and required proper labeling and identification for all its members to establish and continue their membership. In a recent industry study that included a random sample of U.S. electronic cigarette consumers, the average respondent's age was 44 years old. Further, with an average product price of about $100 (Greentip at $49.99), electronic cigarettes can hardly be considered kid-friendly.
Myth: Electronic cigarette cartridges offer many flavors to attract adolescent users.
Fact: All products—which are intended for adult consumers only—offer a variety of flavors. The preference for flavor is universal and not age-specific. Products of all types offer colors, flavors, and other variations to appeal to consumer tastes. To suggest that the cartridge flavors for electronic cigarettes were devised to appeal to kids is patently false and not substantiated by facts. Such an argument is tantamount to suggesting that nicotine-infused smoking cessation gums are available in mint and cinnamon flavors in order to appeal to children. Electronic cigarettes sold by companies in good standing with the ECA are intended for and marketed to long-term, adult smokers.
Myth: Electronic cigarettes make nicotine readily available to non-smokers.
Fact: Electronic cigarettes are marketed to current smokers, not non-smokers. Nicotine is widely available in over-the-counter products, including tobacco cigarettes and smoking cessation gums and lozenges, and no evidence suggests that these products or electronic cigarettes increase the consumption of nicotine by those who do not wish to smoke. In a recent industry study that included a random sample of U.S. electronic cigarette consumers, 96 percent of respondents were smokers purchasing the product for personal use, and 4 percent purchased the product for a friend or relative who smoked.
Myth: The contents of electronic cigarettes are unknown.
Fact: Multiple studies have been conducted and the ingredients are well-known. Numerous studies by different laboratories around the globe have identified that the vapor that is inhaled when using an electronic cigarette, depending on the manufacturer, contains approximately 20 ingredients. These include nicotine, which is regarded as generally safe for human consumption when ingested prudently and in accordance with proper labeling. By contrast, tobacco smoke contains 4,000 ingredients, including arsenic and carbon monoxide, and dozens of cancer-causing ingredients.
Myth: People consume too much nicotine with electronic cigarettes because there is no regulation.
Fact: The amount of nicotine in electronic cigarettes is much less than other over-the-counter products.
Tobacco cigarettes and smoking cessation products, like electronic cigarettes and many other non-smoking-related products, rely on consumers to regulate their consumption and use according to manufacturer labeling. No one can control the misuse of products when directions are not followed.
With that said, the intake of nicotine from electronic cigarettes appears to be substantially less than acceptable standards already in the marketplace. For instance, the consumption of a tobacco cigarette delivers about 1-1.5 mg of nicotine. With the average U.S. smoker consuming 13.9 cigarettes per day, they consume 14-21 mg of nicotine daily. Depending on the smoking cessation product, labeling suggests consumption of six to 48 mg of nicotine per day. By comparison, an electronic cigarette cartridge, depending on manufacturer and cartridge style, produces zero to 16 mgs of nicotine when fully consumed (after approximately 300 puffs). A recent industry study indicates the average electronic cigarette user takes 62.8 puffs per day. This suggests the average electronic cigarette smoker is consuming 3.36 mg of nicotine per day—far less than the amounts for cigarettes or smoking cessation products.
Myth: Electronic cigarettes cannot be legally marketed in the United States.
Fact: The FDA has not issued any formal guidance on electronic cigarettes. While it is true that some manufacturers had the importation of their products stopped or delayed earlier in 2009, it is also true that the FDA has only provided informal comments about electronic cigarettes through its spokespeople and has not issued any formal guidance on the topic. The FDA currently only has jurisdiction to regulate drugs and medical devices, and electronic cigarettes fall under neither of these categories.
Myth: You can stop people from smoking.
Fact: Tobacco smoking increased in the United States in 2008 for the first time since 1965. After a 30-year decline in tobacco smoking in the United States, the percentage of American adults who smoke tobacco increased in 2008 and for the first time since 1965—this despite decades of dedicated legislative and educational efforts. It is clear that some people will choose to smoke and that further improvement in public health requires accepting this reality and embracing innovative new products that are less hazardous than tobacco cigarettes and more effective than abstinence.
Myth: Smoking cessation products work.
Fact: Only three to seven percent of people who use these products are able to quit for at least six months.
While abstaining from tobacco smoking is a good goal, cessation products on the market have been proven in multiple studies to have a failure rate of around 95 percent. Pharmaceutical companies receive billions from the sales of these products while being well aware of their products’ lack of success and that the majority of sales are to people seeking alternative forms of nicotine delivery rather than a smoking cessation solution. Electronic cigarettes offer an alternative to traditional cigarettes and are not used for smoking cessation.
Myth: Nicotine is bad for you.
Fact: The long-term use of nicotine is significantly safer than tobacco smoking. Nicotine suffers from guilt by association with tobacco. The carcinogenic properties of nicotine in a stand-alone form, separated from tobacco smoke, indicate that nicotine on its own does not promote the development of cancer in healthy tissue and has no mutagenic properties. The Royal College of Physicians, as well as a study by the National Institutes of Health, indicates that there are no grounds to suspect appreciable long-term adverse effects on health from the long-term use of nicotine.
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