WHO: Stripping Away the “Disguise” of E-cigarettes — They Are Harmful

Editor’s note: Vaping devices have been developing for 10 years, drawing both praise and criticism. After observing the sector for a decade, the World Health Organization now says it is stripping away the “disguise” of e-cigarettes.

Heated Tobacco News reported: Over the past decade, a wide variety of vaping devices have appeared on the market. Because e-cigarettes do not burn tobacco leaves, but instead vaporize a liquid, manufacturers have claimed that users are inhaling harmless water vapor. Some companies have also produced vaping devices in various fruit and beverage flavors to entice teenagers to try them. Others have disguised e-cigarettes as smoking-cessation tools similar to nicotine gum. However, the World Health Organization conducted dedicated research into this new phenomenon and reached a clear conclusion: e-cigarettes are harmful to public health, are not a means of quitting smoking, and must be more strictly regulated to prevent harm to young people and non-smokers. Please listen to this report from UN Radio correspondent Huang Liling.

The rapid rise of electronic nicotine delivery systems such as e-cigarettes over the past decade has sparked intense debate. At a meeting of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control held in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2012, member states requested that WHO review the health effects caused by e-cigarette use and formulate corresponding prevention and control measures. On August 26, WHO held a press conference in Geneva to release this research report.

Douglas Bettcher, director of WHO’s department for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, first made it clear that e-cigarettes are harmful to public health.

Bettcher: “The tobacco industry presents itself in marketing e-cigarettes as a partner in public health, pretending that e-cigarettes are minimally harmful while disguising itself as the solution to the health disaster it created. But without question, they are not our partners.”

The most common form of electronic nicotine delivery system is the e-cigarette, which delivers an aerosol for inhalation by heating a solution. In addition to nicotine, the solution mainly contains propylene glycol, and some also include glycerin and flavorings. Some electronic nicotine delivery systems are designed to look very much like cigarettes, cigars, pipes, or hookahs, while others may resemble everyday items such as pens, USB flash drives, or larger cylindrical and rectangular devices.

The WHO report notes that e-cigarettes vary in their ability to heat solutions into aerosol because of differences in battery voltage and unit circuitry, affecting the delivery of nicotine and other ingredients. The heating process can also promote the formation of toxic substances in the aerosol. The way the product is used can also affect nicotine absorption, including the duration of each puff, how deeply the user inhales, and how frequently the product is used.

Bettcher: “Existing evidence shows that what e-cigarettes produce is not the ‘water vapor’ manufacturers claim. In addition to nicotine, it contains a number of other harmful substances. Although e-cigarettes may be less toxic than conventional cigarettes, their use can still harm adolescents, pregnant women, and fetuses. The aerosol exhaled by e-cigarette users increases background levels of certain toxic substances, nicotine, and fine and ultrafine particles in the air, adversely affecting non-smokers and bystanders.”

E-cigarettes are a relatively new product, but their growth has been astonishingly fast. E-cigarettes were invented in 2004 by a Chinese manufacturer. By 2014, there were 466 brands on the market, and total sales in 2013 reached US$3 billion. Data from North America, the European Union, and South Korea show that between 2008 and 2012, e-cigarette use at least doubled among both adults and adolescents.

Bettcher: “One issue that raises a red flag for us is adolescents experimenting with e-cigarettes. There are now more than 8,000 flavors of e-cigarettes on the market, including flavors such as strawberry, milkshake, and gummy bear vitamins. We are very concerned that e-cigarettes could become a pathway for young people to become addicted to nicotine and then go on to smoke. Therefore, fruit flavors, candy flavors, and alcoholic beverage-flavored e-cigarettes must be banned.”

Marketers of e-cigarettes also claim that these products help smokers quit. Some even imply that they are a form of nicotine replacement therapy like nicotine gum, lozenges, or patches. But WHO emphasizes that there is no evidence proving that e-cigarettes help people stop smoking, and no government agency has evaluated or approved the purported smoking-cessation effects of e-cigarettes for such use. For many smokers, using e-cigarettes reduces the use of conventional cigarettes rather than leading to complete cessation. #p#Page Title#e#

Bettcher, head of WHO’s department for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, pointed out that given the health risks of e-cigarettes and the many misleading aspects of their advertising and promotion, global regulatory rules must be established for them. At present, only 39 countries worldwide have comprehensive bans on e-cigarette advertising, promotion, and sponsorship, and 30 countries prohibit the use of e-cigarettes in enclosed public places.

Bettcher: “Let us briefly look at e-cigarette regulatory rules around the world. The situation varies from country to country. Some countries regulate e-cigarettes as consumer goods, some as therapeutic products, and some regard them as tobacco products. But in half of WHO’s member states, the vast majority of which are developing countries, no regulatory measures for e-cigarettes have yet been adopted. E-cigarettes must be regulated. Government authorities must restrict e-cigarette advertising, promotion, and sponsorship; must prevent the marketing of e-cigarettes to non-smokers and young people; and must prohibit manufacturers from advertising unproven health benefits of e-cigarettes. In addition, the use of e-cigarettes in indoor areas, public places, and workplaces must be stopped.”

Huang Liling reporting from United Nations Headquarters in New York.