Vapers using low- rather than high-nicotine e-liquids in electronic cigarettes may be using their devices more intensely, potentially increasing the risk of exposure to toxins in the vapor, according to a medicalxpress.com story citing new research funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Addiction on June 7.
Researchers, based at London South Bank University, studied 20 e-cigarette users and found that people using low-nicotine e-liquid in their devices puffed more deeply and more often than did those using high-nicotine liquid. Those using low-nicotine liquids also increased the power of their vaping devices when possible.
Despite this ‘compensatory’ behaviour, the low nicotine vapers were unable to get as much nicotine as could the high-nicotine group. But in their quest to do so their puffing behavior may have increased their exposure to toxins such as formaldehyde, a chemical formed when the e-cigarette liquid is heated.
While there can be toxic chemicals present in vapor, they are far fewer and generally at lower concentrations than in tobacco smoke. Evidence so far still shows that the use of both high- and low-nicotine e-cigarettes is far less harmful than is smoking.
“Some vapers might believe that starting out on a low nicotine strength is a good thing, but they should be aware that reducing their nicotine concentration is likely to result in the use of more e-liquid,” said Dr. Lynne Dawkins, lead author of the study.
“This obviously comes with a financial cost but also possibly with a health cost. The results of our study suggest that smokers who want to switch to vaping may be better to start with higher, rather than lower, nicotine levels to reduce compensatory behaviour and the amount of e-liquid used.”
Category: People
High nicotine levels needed
IQOS rumored for India
Philip Morris International is planning to launch IQOS in India, according to a story by Aditya Kalra for Reuters citing ‘four sources familiar with the matter’.
A government source was quoted as saying the government would keep an open mind if PMI approached it to discuss a device that helped people quit smoking, but added that such devices, including electronic cigarettes, could be banned if found to be harmful.
A PM spokesman was quoted as saying that the company did not comment on its plans, but that it was committed to working to replace cigarettes with scientifically-substantiated smoke-free products.
But Reuters said that the company seemed to have started building a public case for IQOS in India.
On World No Tobacco Day, R. Venkatesh, PM’s top corporate affairs executive in India, wrote a column for India’s Economic Times newspaper calling for ‘effective regulations’ for alternative smoking devices.
‘With alternatives to cigarettes available and countries already delivering on their smoke-free ambitions, the incentive is there for lawmakers to support Indian smokers – who deserve a better option,’ Venkatesh wrote.Tobacco use in decline
The current use among US high school students of any tobacco product decreased from 24.2 percent (3.69 million) in 2011 to 19.6 percent (2.95 million) in 2017, according to findings made public yesterday by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The findings, from the 2017 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, showed, too, that among middle school students, current use of any tobacco product decreased from 7.5 percent (0.87 million) in 2011 to 5.6 percent (0.67 million) in 2017.
‘By product, among both middle and high school students, there were decreases in use of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, pipes and bidis, and an increase in e-cigarette use, according to a press note issued through the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
‘Despite the overall decline, in 2017, about one in five high school students and one in 18 middle school students currently used a tobacco product. ‘For the fourth year in a row, e-cigarettes continued to be the most commonly used tobacco product [the FDA deems e-cigarettes to be tobacco products] among high school (11.7 percent; 1.73 million) and middle school (3.3 percent; 0.39 million) students.
‘Furthermore, about one in two (46.8 percent) high school students who currently used a tobacco product and two in five (41.8 percent) middle school students who currently used a tobacco product reported using two or more tobacco products.’
The authors were said to have concluded that the sustained implementation of population-based strategies, in co-ordination with the regulation of tobacco products by the FDA, were critical to reducing all forms of tobacco product use and initiation among young people.
‘Youth tobacco use rates, particularly e-cigarette use, continue to be of concern to FDA,’ the note said. ‘This spring, FDA announced a Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan, which includes a series of enforcement actions to prevent initiation of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, by youth.
‘Further, FDA continues to invest in compelling, science-based campaigns, like “The Real Cost” and “This Free Life,” to educate youth about the dangers of all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes.
‘In fall 2017, FDA further expanded “The Real Cost” campaign to include an online e-cigarette prevention ad. A full-scale e-cigarette prevention effort under “The Real Cost” brand umbrella is planned for fall 2018.’Flavor ban gets the nod
Photo: Larry D Crain Voters in San Francisco, California, have approved a city-wide ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and certain chewing tobaccos, and vaping liquids, according to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Proposition E was supported by 68 percent of voters and opposed by 31 percent.
San Francisco supervisors last year unanimously approved the ban, but it was put on hold after R.J. Reynolds collected enough signatures to put it on the ballot. The company was said to have spent at least $12 million on the campaign opposing the measure.Before the ban, the Consumer Choice Center’s senior fellow, Jeff Stier, said that California law already prohibited the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under 21. As such, the ordinance would change the legal status of the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to adults exclusively.
Stier called on the FDA to “speak out about how a local ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to adults could undermine the FDA’s comprehensive regulatory plan to fight smoking, given the role flavors in e-cigarettes play in helping adult smokers quit.”Following the vote, Bonnie Herzog, MD Equity Research for Tobacco and C-Stores at Wells Fargo Securities, said that while she expected tobacco stocks would come under pressure because of the vote, the ban was not a “deal-breaker” for the menthol category.
“As we have written in the past, we believe the net negative impact for major tobacco manufacturers will be limited since we expect many consumers will likely move their purchases online or cross border ultimately having the greatest negative impact on retailers,” she said.Smoking population falls
The number of tobacco smokers in Beijing has dropped by about 200,000, three years after the city adopted a strict tobacco control regime, according to a Xinhua News Agency story quoting the city’s health authority.
The adult smoking rate in Beijing now stands at 22.3 percent, or 3.99 million smokers, 200,000 fewer than the figure for 2015, the commission for health improvement said.
Sixty-one hospitals are said to have opened smoking cessation clinics.
Meanwhile, the city has nearly 15,000 tobacco control volunteers; so about 1,600 ‘departments’ and more than 7,300 individuals have been punished for violations of the tobacco control regulations.
Medical establishments, schools and hotels are said to have a relatively high compliance rate in respect of smoking restrictions, while small restaurants, office buildings and entertainment venues ‘continue to pose difficulties for regulators’.Catering for Chinese visitors
The Tobacco Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to introduce locally-made Chinese-style cigarettes to Thailand’s duty-free outlets from October, targeting an increasing number of Chinese visitors, according to a story in The Bangkok Post.
Daonoi Sutthinipapan, the governor of the TAT, said on Wednesday that the state monopoly had signed a memorandum of understanding with Shaanxi Jinye Science Education Group and Yunnan Reascend Tobacco Technology Co to produce the new cigarettes.
The Chinese companies were said to have researched the raw materials, flavors and packages preferred by Chinese consumers.
Their knowledge, said Daonoi, would be used by the TAT to develop a new product, which would be launched on the Thai market on October 1, China’s National Day.
She said the project would benefit both local tobacco growers and the TAT.
The new cigarettes are due to be made available initially at duty-free outlets around Thailand and later in other Southeast Asian countries.The lobbying circuit
A report released today by Forest EU is said to shine a light on the network of anti-tobacco lobby groups in Brussels and how the European Commission funds them with taxpayer’s money to achieve the Commission’s own policy goals.
Forest EU describes itself, in part, as ‘a campaign that informs smokers about the issues that affect them in the European Union’.
“The report identifies at least 24 different organisations operating in Brussels pushing for more pervasive anti-tobacco policies,” said Guillaume Périgois, director of Forest EU. “These organizations are staffed with 94 lobbyists and have a self-declared lobbying budget of between €5 and €6 million as per the EU Transparency Register. Far from David vs Goliath, it’s Goliath vs Goliath.
“The report also sets out how in 2016 €6 million of EU taxpayer’s money was channelled to these organizations by the European Commission to lobby in favour of policies which the Commission has put forward. For us, such funding amounts to government lobbying government and does not promote transparent policy making.”
Meanwhile, Michael Jäger, secretary general of the Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE), said that it wasn’t necessary to like smoking to see there was a problem with the Commission giving taxpayers’ money to NGOs who then use that money to lobby the Commission.
“With the EU budget under increasing pressure it doesn’t make sense for the Commission to spend public money like this,” he said.
The report makes several recommendations including one that would see a clause included in all new and renewed Framework Partnership Agreements and grant agreements that would limit the ability of fund recipients to use the funds received for lobbying activities, while encouraging the delivery of concrete health outcomes.HNB prices cut
Japan Tobacco Inc is cutting the prices of its heated tobacco products after a similar move by Philip Morris International, signaling increased competition on Japan’s nascent market for alternative cigarettes, according to a story by Taiga Uranaka and Ritsuko Shimizu for japantoday.com.
Japan, where electronic cigarettes delivering nicotine are effectively banned, has become the main market for heat not burn (HNB) products. The country accounts for more than 90 percent of the $5 billion HNB market, according to Euromonitor.
Tobacco makers initially struggled to keep up with demand as they began limited introductions of HNB products in Japan a few years ago. They have since ramped up production, but investors are now worried about slowing growth in the sector.
JT said was cutting the price of its Ploom TECH device to 3,000 yen from 4,000 yen.
“We are finally prepared and confident that we can reverse our position and go on the offensive,” Chito Sasaki, president of the company’s domestic tobacco business, reportedly told Reuters.
The company, with a 60 percent share of the traditional cigarette market, has been lagging rivals in the HNB category.Packaging fight continues
The drive to impose standardized packaging on tobacco products in the hope of discouraging current and potential smokers, has pitted the World Health Organization and the EU against the tobacco industry, according to a story by Claire Stam and Sarantis Michalopoulos for euractiv.com.
The industry says standardized packaging has no discernible impact on smoking rates but opens the door to black markets. On the other hand, the WHO insists that the measure is effective and rules out any link to the illegal trade.
From its side, the EU is expecting the number of smokers to fall by 2.4 million during the five-year period following the introduction of the its revised Tobacco Product Directive (TPD). The TPD, which came into force in May 2016, requires that 65 percent of a tobacco pack’s surface should include health warning graphics and text, though it leaves open to member states whether they introduce standardized packaging.
New research conducted by the consultancy group Europe Economics and commissioned by Japan Tobacco International, showed that the introduction of standardized packaging has had no statistically-significant impact on smoking prevalence or consumption in the UK, where standardized packaging was imposed.
The research, which was based on government data found that three out of five UK adults believed standardized packaging would lead to an increase in the number of illicit cigarettes, benefiting organised crime.
“What this evidence and public opinion research shows is that plain packaging should never have been introduced in the UK,” Ben Townsend, head of EU Affairs for JTI, told EURACTIV.com. “Other European countries considering the measure should think twice before importing a failed experiment, which appears to have back-fired big time.
“One year ago, the UK government introduced plain packaging for tobacco products in the absence of clear supportive evidence from Australia [at the time, the only country to have introduced the policy]. Five-and-a-half years into the Australian experiment, we see that plain packaging has completely failed to reduce smoking rates.”Ban would impair FDA plan
The US Food and Drug Administration has been warned that a proposed local ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including flavored e-liquids, could undermine the agency’s comprehensive regulatory plan to fight tobacco smoking.
Today, voters in San Francisco will vote on whether to approve a Board of Supervisors’ ordinance, Proposition E, that includes a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.
According to a press note from the Consumer Choice Center, proponents of the ban claim the measure is necessary to protect ‘kids’.
“Yet,” according to the Center’s senior fellow Jeff Stier (pictured), “California law already prohibits the sale of all e-cigarettes to anyone under 21. As such, the ordinance would change the legal status of the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to adults exclusively.”
Stier is calling on the FDA to “speak out about how a local ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes to adults could undermine the FDA’s comprehensive regulatory plan to fight smoking, given the role flavors in e-cigarettes play in helping adult smokers quit”.
The press note said that the FDA, which was studying whether to regulate e-cigarette flavors, had already noted the potential life-saving nature of e-cigarette flavors, saying that, ‘certain flavors may help currently addicted adult smokers switch to potentially less harmful forms of nicotine-containing tobacco products’.
Stier said that “because the San Francisco Ordinance would do nothing to prevent sales to kids, and everything to ban sales to adults who use flavored e-cigarettes to quit smoking, the FDA should alert the public to how the ordinance would undermine federal anti-smoking efforts”.
