FDA Lab Analysis Puts the Heat on E-Cigarettes

I have little to add to the knowledgeable comments above regarding the FDA study and the increase in quality of life and health using "electronic cigarettes" aside from my own story.

I smoked for almost 30 years. When I first heard of e-cigarettes I too looked to it as a means of cutting my exposure to the carcinogens in cigarettes. I didn't believe I could quit. And with good reason. Tried all the NRTs. They simply don't address all of the issues smokers endure while trying to quit. They simply don't work for the majority. No, these should not be marketed as smoking cessation devices. However they can significantly reduce the need for a cigarette. Many e-smokers, or vapers have "accidentally" quit when they found miraculously they no longer had the need for a cigarette. I am one of them.

After a month of vaping, my lungs feel clear, my sense of smell is back, my skin has a better color to it. I can laugh again without having a coughing fit. If vaping is so dangerous, why am I healthier? There is simply no way vaping is as harmful as cigarettes. How is it they are not banned? Would the FDA prefer to see vapers go back to smoking? That is what will happen. NRTs do not work!

I have been a smoker for 15 years, and finally quit smoking successfully with the help of electronic cigarettes.

SOOOOO much tax revenue from real cigarettes. I wonder why the government would want to vilify an effective alternative? Hmmm.

You are confusing the terms "quitting smoking" and "quitting nicotine". I am a user of the personal vaporizer (e-cig). I smoked 2 packs a day for 32 years, and I tried every NRT on the market, but nothing worked. I purchased the e-cig as a SMOKING ALTERNATIVE...not to just quit smoking.

Did I quit cigarettes?...yes, but did I quit nicotine...no. What I can tell you, is that my sense of smell has returned, my sense of taste has returned, I can breathe easier, I am no longer getting short of breath upon activity, and I no longer smell like an ashtray.

My own personal, physical experience...as well as that of MANY other users, can testify to the fact that the e-cig is not as harmful as regular cigarettes. My own doctor can testify to the difference in my health since I started using it. The FDA is using a well known, frequently used scare tactic to encite people to "fear the unknown"...but they are not willing to put the product into the proper category or put it in a proper comparison to the "regular" cigarettes, which they should have done in the very beginning. All of the "ingredients" that they are screaming about in the e-cig is the EXACT SAME INGREDIENTS found in NRTs, which are AOK with the FDA and sold over the counter without a prescription.

Look deep down into all that is being said and done by the FDA over this...and you will find their true motive behind it, and it isn't pretty. They are basically telling smokers, "quit or die".

Although I am not a scientist I would like to quote one from this site
http://rodutobaccotruth.blogspot.com/
by Brad Rodu who is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville, holds an endowed chair in tobacco harm reduction research, and is a member of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center at U of L.
[QUOTE] The FDA analyzed 18 cartridges from two e-cigarette manufacturers[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE] I have some experience with TSNAs, since I participated in a project with a scientist at the Swedish National Food Administration to measure the levels of these agents in smokeless tobacco products. Our research showed that TSNAs are present in most American tobacco products at extremely low levels, about 0.1 to 12 parts per million by weight. At this level of TSNAs, someone who puts 1 gram (about 1/28th of an ounce) of smokeless tobacco in his mouth is exposed to, at most, about 10 one-millionths of a gram of TSNAs. There is abundant scientific evidence that exposure at this minuscule level is not associated with ANY cancer in smokeless tobacco users. [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE] Unfortunately, the agency did not report TSNA levels. Instead, it reported that TSNAs were either “Detected” or “Not Detected,” which is entirely inadequate. For hundreds of years, one of the basic tenets of medicine has been “the dose makes the poison.” Mere detection of a contaminant is meaningless; the critical question is: At what concentration is it present?[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]In summary, the FDA tested e-cigarettes for TSNAs using a questionable sampling regimen, and methods that were so sensitive that the results may have no possible significance to users. The agency failed to report specific levels of these contaminants, and it has failed to conduct similar testing of nicotine medicines that have been sold in the U.S. for over 20 years.[/QUOTE]

Not only are the manufacturers and distributors of e-cigarettes touting e-cigs as safe, but now they are accusing the FDA of using its clout to "demonize" their product. These unethical, greedy jerks want to make money! Now it looks like the smokeless e-cig is a cancer stick or coffin nail as is a tobacco cigarette.

Immediately after the FDA warning was issued last week, which included the fact that lab tests found cancer-causing nitrosamines, the promoters of e-cigarettes countered that nitrosamines aren't really dangerous -- afterall, they are in bacon, other cured meats, and even beer.

Ethic Soup blog says that argument is like saying arsenic can't kill you because of its medical applications. An arsenic compound was used to treat syphilis before penicillin was developed, according to Ethic Soup. Read more about the FDA warning at:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2009/07/fda-warns-ecigarettes-contain-harmful-toxins-cancer-causing-chemicals-and-a-antifreeze-compound.html