Category: News This Week

Smoking is responsible for nearly 4 percent of Switzerland’s medical expenses and 14 percent of its premature deaths, according to a new report commissioned by the Swiss Association for Smoking Prevention.

Published on Sept. 9 by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, the study estimates that in 2015, tobacco consumption generated direct medical costs of CHF3 billion ($3.03 billion), including CHF1.2 billion for the treatment of cancer, CHF1 billion for cardiovascular diseases and CHF0.7 billion for respiratory illnesses.

In addition, the Swiss economy loses around CHF2 billion a year due to illness and premature death among the workforce as a result of tobacco consumption.

In 2015, tobacco consumption in Switzerland caused a total of 9,535 deaths, or 14.1 percent of all deaths in that year. Road accidents killed 253 people, and the flu killed 2,500 people that year.

The Swiss parliament is due to discuss regulations on tobacco advertising in the autumn session.

Even though the chemical emissions from heat-not-burn devices are lower than those produced by cigarettes, they are still high enough to raise concern, according to new research from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab.

“These products are engineered so that it looks like hardly anything comes out of them; but just because the emissions are minimal doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” said first author Lucia Cancelada, a former affiliate researcher in Berkeley Lab’s Indoor Environment Group.

The Berkeley Lab team examined mainstream and sidestream emissions of “a product authorized for sale in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration in April 2019.”

Overall, their experiments demonstrated that the emissions are on par with those of electronic cigarettes.

“When we modeled indoor concentrations of acrolein that could be found in a home with regular heat-not-burn use and in spaces with multiple users, such as bars, we found that in certain conditions levels could exceed what the state of California considers to be a safe level for chronic exposure,” said co-author and chemist Lara Gundel.

Additionally, when predicting the intake of irritants and carcinogens by the user, the team found that consuming 20 heat sticks a day—equivalent to a pack a day of conventional cigarettes—would deliver doses of acrolein, benzene, acetaldehyde, and formaldehyde comparable to or higher than health-based exposure limits set by the state of California.

The authors conclude that while heated tobacco products appear to be a weaker indoor pollution source than conventional cigarettes, the impacts cannot be brushed aside and need to be investigated further.

The study was funded by the University of California’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which is supported by California state cigarette taxes.

Following the death of a third person related to a mystery respiratory illness linked to vaping, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin today called on U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Acting Commissioner Ned Sharpless to take decisive action within the next 10 days to regulate e-cigarettes and the accompanying flavors and products.

In a letter to the acting commissioner, Durbin said that should Sharpless fail to act within ten days, Durbin will call for his resignation.

“As Acting Commissioner of the FDA, you alone have the power to stop this vaping epidemic, which has now reached the point where children and young adults are getting sick and dying,” Durbin wrote. “It is my strong belief that, if you do not take decisive action within the next ten days, you should resign your post. If you continue to refuse to do your job—which is to protect the public health—then it is time to allow someone else to take the helm.”

Durbin also called for Acting Commissioner Sharpless to send a letter to all schools in America warning of the health consequences associated with vaping, and asking each school to ensure this message is conveyed to parents and students alike; immediately ban all e-cigarette flavors other than tobacco; and immediately ban all e-cigarette devices that have not been approved for sale by the FDA, and ensure their immediate removal from stores nationwide.

Durbin asked that Senators immediately be briefed on what steps FDA is taking to combat this public health crisis, including what role marijuana-derived products are playing in this epidemic.

To date, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 450 cases of severe respiratory illness among people using e-cigarettes in 33 states, as well as three deaths (in Illinois, Oregon, and Indiana).

A fourth death is being currently investigated.

Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC) has asked lawmakers to lower tobacco taxes on smoking alternatives such as e-cigarettes, which are believed to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes, according to a report in The Philippine Inquirer.

PMFTC external affairs and communications director Patrick Muttart said research showed that almost 60 percent of Filipino smokers are open to switching from combustible cigarettes to alternatives such as IQOS, the company’s heat-not-burn device.

Muttart said softening taxes on cigarette alternatives “can encourage quitting.”

While the company has not yet officially launched IQOS in the Philippines, the product reportedly already has a large following with users buying it overseas or on the gray market.

Muttart told lawmakers that his firm’s smoke-free products could help sustain the Philippine tobacco industry, which, according to the National Tobacco Administration, supports 2 million people.

The Philippines provide leaf for some smoke-free products, and Philippine call centers provide global customer support to users of smoking alternatives that rely on electronics.

Muttart said if more smokers switch to alternative tobacco products, demand for call center support would increase as well.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised vapers to avoid inhaling vitamin E acetate in the wake of recent reports of respiratory illnesses and deaths.

Vitamin E acetate is a substance present in topical consumer products or dietary supplements, but data are limited about its effects after inhalation.

While acknowledging that it does not have enough data presently to conclude that vitamin E acetate is the cause of the lung injury in the reported cases, the FDA believes it is prudent to avoid inhaling this substance.

Because consumers cannot be sure whether any THC vapor products may contain vitamin E acetate, the FDA also urges consumers to avoid buying vapor products on the street and to refrain from using THC oil or modifying/adding any substances to products purchased in stores.

British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the world’s largest vapor companies, welcomed the FDA’s recommendation.

“We fully support the FDA’s view that vapers should always source their devices and liquids from reputable manufacturers, should avoid modifying or adding substances to the products they purchase and should only ever use the devices as the manufacturer intended,” said David O’Reilly, BAT’s director of scientific research in a statement.

The FDA is currently analyzing samples submitted by a number of states for the presence of a broad range of chemicals, including nicotine, THC and other cannabinoids along with cutting agents/diluents and other additives, pesticides, opioids, poisons, heavy metals and toxins.

According to the FDA, no one substance has been identified in all of the samples tested.