The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released the results of their study into the safety or not of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). My colleague the National Examiner has a good round up of those results: or at least, the results as announced.
Your humble reporter has a nastily suspicious mind though: much of what has been said looks more like a combination of bureaucratic turf war combined with puritanism rather than impartial scientific research. The puritanism is that there are those who heartily desire to get rid of smoking, or anything like it, altogether and the turf war, well, which bureaucracy would ever say that they didn't want to regulate some aspect of life or a product? That's simply not what bureaucracies do.
In such cases it's always instructive to go and read the real report: you know, the one actually written by the scientists, not the gloss put on it by the bosses of the scientists. You can see that report here (.pdf ).
Yes, they found Diethylene Glycol as they say: but not that they found it in only one of the 18 cartridges tested. That looks very much more like an error or fault in manufacturing rather than something inherent in the system. It's also worth pointing out that this very chemical is often used as a humectant in tobacco and cigarettes, something to keep them moist. That could in fact be where it came from. But still, to throw out this delivery technology because of an error would seem a little extreme.
More important perhaps is the sleight of hand that they've done with the test results. They tested the ingredients of the cartridges in two ways: in one method they heated up the contents to 280 oC and then analysed the results. They then found a number of chemicals that they would rather not were in there. Hmm, and that's the list they announced as being of concern. You know, e-cigarettes are bad because they contain these chemicals.
But if you look at page 2 of the real report you'll see this:
HSGC is likely to be less sensitive than the GC-MS technique that takes advantage of injecting all of the soluble components and then volatilizing them at 280 °C; however, the head space analyzer can be set to a specific temperature to mimic what may be volatilized during use of the products. The temperature of the heating element in each e-cigarette was determined by inserting a thermocouple and then activating the e-cigarette by drawing air through it. These temperatures ranged from 40 to 65°C. HSGC-MS analysis was conducted at 60°C to simulate the temperature that would be encountered during activation of an e-cigarette.
The results of testing the e-cigarettes as they are designed and meant to be used? For one brand, none of the chemicals of concern were found, for the other they were. So again, this is not to do with the essentials of the technology at all: it's to do with the specific manufacturing of the cartridges, something easy enough to be put right. We know this is easy enough to put right for only 1 in 18 samples had the DEG and one brand had none of the other chemicals of concern. So it is not the technology itself which is at fault.
But you can see which way this is going to go, can't you? Because some cartridges were found to be of concern the entire technology will be banned: or at least, that's what they're going to try and do. For the real complaint is that all cartridges which claimed to contain nicotine did indeed contain it and we really cannot be having people inhaling that addictive drug now, can we?
Even though this method of inhaling it is hugely less dangerous than the current technology, the humble cigarette.
In short, the FDA speak with forked tongue.
Comments
I have read over 200 articles in the last day and this is the first reporter who I have seen seek truth before typing what the FDA spoon fed the media...
Bravo
Bravo! There's always more to the story, isn't there? Anyone interested can also look at these sites for more information:
1) fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ScienceResearch/UCM173250.pdf
2) healthnz.co.nz/2ndSafetyReport_9Apr08.pdf
3) starscientific.com/404/stepanov%20tsna%20in.pdf
4) epa.gov/waste/conserve/materials/antifree.htm#alternate
5) jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/o8764.htm
6) jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/E5125.htm
7) tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/
8) ecassoc.org/response-to-the-fda/
9) e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/campaigning/28246-facts-regarding-fda-press-release-7-22-repost.html
Finally, a reporter who actually does research instead of just paraphrasing and re-wording biased press releases.
Thankyou for seeing the truth instead of just reading the Headlines from the FDA.
My balls itch.
My balls itch. Ecigs arent bad.
nobody has died yet smoking e cigs how many have died smoking real cigs?!!!!!!!!!!!
Good job Tim, keep these type articles coming.
Thanks for seeing the truth.
Mr. Worstall-
Thank you for going against the grain and doing a little independent thinking instead of just blindly paraphrasing what the FDA wants everyone to believe. You are a breath of fresh air! (and I would know after stopping smoking after 26 years because of this wonderful product!)
Very nice article, good job! finally, somebody intelligent!
Appreciate the fair press printing a fair article. You are the only ones to do so this far from what ive seen.
Thank you for the honest reporting. The FDA has taken an entirely biased position on this issue where one would expect an objective evaluation. Not only does the testing seem flawed, but the presentation of results as well. After 20 years of smoking, I am now using one of these devices instead and would love to see more scientific testing rather than something biased toward the desired outcome. The fact that the majority of the media simply regurgitates it doesn't help either.
Finally.. someone actually read the report before writing an article!
Bravo! Excellent and accurate reporting on the biased FDA "report".
very good, thoughtful piece. thanks for going beyond the surface and actually doing some honest reporting. This product has the potential to save a lot of lives.
Thank you for using the part of your body that many so-called journalists either lack or don't use: a brain. Just because a report is published by the FDA doesn't mean that we should examine it without any critical thinking.
Bravo!
Thank you for this wonderful contribution to the eCig community/future.
Thank you so much for writing something impartial.It's nice to read something about this without all of the negative spin!
Intellicig’s e-liquid has a minimum purity of 99% - a figure that smokers can trust
Statement from Intellicig in response to the announcement that smokers using battery-powered electronic cigarettes are being exposed to poisonous and carcinogenic chemicals:
David Newns, commercial director of leading smoking alternative Intellicig, said: "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have analysed a number of refill cartridge samples imported into the US from China and identified one out of the nineteen samples contained minute traces of diethylene glycol and nitrosamines.
“At Intellicig we believe in providing our customers with a product that they can trust, which is why we can guarantee exactly what goes into our cigarettes.
“Intellicig continue to be the industry leader and we have invested heavily in producing our own ‘e-liquid’ right here in the UK, the only company currently doing so.
“Our ECOpure range contains none of the substances that have given cause for concer
concern and is based on ingredients that have all been tested at over 99% purity by a University Laboratory.
"We will support any measures to restrict the use of poisonous and carcinogenic chemicals in any electronic cigarette products and maintain complete customer satisfaction as our number one priority.
“ECOpure is proving extremely popular as both suppliers and end users show their confidence in a UK made product which is subject to stringent quality control.
“Intellicig are now the main UK manufacturer and supplier exporting to over 20 countries and with Intellicig branded websites throughout the world.”
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