Seeking Justice

We’ve all read both sides on the debate involving electronic cigarettes. On one hand, we have the advocates that believe that they are safe to use and also an effective gadget for smoking cessation. On the other end of the debate would be the opponents that claim the e cigarette will be harmful for the consumer and they are worthless as a stop smoking tool. However we are all aware, when there are two sides to the story the truth is most likely someplace in the middle.

The electronic cigarette issue became viral in July of last year once the Food and drug administration released a study claiming that they had analyzed smokeless cigarettes, and their associated product eliquid, and found them to be hazardous because they included chemical compounds considered dangerous to people. The smokeless cigarette camp fired back by hiring a globally renowned investigation company to look at the Food and drug administration study and the methods they used to attain their results. The research firm observed the findings reached from the Food and drug administration research program were found to be unacceptable because the testing techniques they implemented had been far from those required to make these types of determinations.

So at this point, over a year later, what exactly have we learned about the safety involving e cigs? Well, essentially nothing at all has changed. Each side on the debate still declare victory yet ultimately, the e cig smoker remains in the dark regarding whether the smokeless cigarette is not dangerous to use and reliable as a stop smoking product. Let’s have a closer look at what exactly we fully understand.

In the interest of brevity, I will not get into detail about how precisely the e cigarette works or the way it is used. It is in a nut-shell a nicotine delivery device not unlike the medically prescribed Nicotrol� inhaler. It functions by warming and atomizing a mixture of propylene glycerin and pure nicotine once the user inhales through the unit. The Food and drug administration’s major point of contention, which has been confirmed wrong from the secondary study, is the nicotine containing mixture that they examined contained dangerous contaminants. The controversy concerning this point itself is actually not my problem. What is important to note would be the fact the FDA may have, if intentional or not, discovered an incredibly relevant idea. Let’s take a look at this a little further.

In the usa, almost anything we eat or drink is required to conform to specifications regulated by multiple federal agencies which insure our health and safety. We see very often merchandise which have been recalled through the vendor because of the slightest incompliance with the appropriate manufacturing processes. So now we will examine e-liquid (the nicotine solution used in electronic cigarettes) for a moment. You will discover at this moment zero guidelines or polices in place governing its production, who may manufacture it, how it is stored or even its shelf life. Essentially, you or I can go on the net, acquire eliquid materials and start preparing it in our cellars with no regulation at all. Now just for personal use, this may well appear acceptible. Even so, I do not know of any other product intended for human inhalation that you can prepare for yourself let alone for mass consumption as well as offer for sale it on the web. Still this is just what many e juice suppliers are actually doing.

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not necessarily saying that e liquid could be hazardous. I am stating there is a definite likelihood that due to insufficient regulation, a contaminated e juice might theoretically land in the hands of an e cig user. You may wonder about the e liquid that has been made by the ecig companies themselves? Here once again, we essentially have the same situation. Produced mostly inside China, there’s absolutely no regulations of any kind related to how this eliquid is manufactured. In the end, it appears individuals purchasing eliquid should be thinking about that old addage caveat emptor or “Let the buyer beware”.

Filed under: technology by Robert