In 2014, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students. Over the course of just one year, e-cigarette use increased from 4.5 to 13.4 percent among high school students, and 1.1 to 3.9 percent among middle school students.
This translates to 4.6 million middle and high school students being exposed to a tobacco product that is currently entirely unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) despite years of steadily increasing e-cigarette use, especially among teens and young adults.
The FDA sent a final draft to the White House for approval in October of 2015, but while the FDA’s proposal sits in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, the ever-growing e-cigarettes industry is operating almost completely unchecked.
The main component in e-cigarettes is e-liquid, or a substance made from extracted nicotine, a base (usually propylene glycol), various flavor and color additives, and other chemicals. There are nearly 500 brands and 7,700 flavors currently on the market – and you have no way of determining exactly what is in them or how they affect your health.
In addition, the chemicals used for flavoring simply haven’t been tested for inhalation purposes. Manufacturers have misleadingly claimed that these chemicals are safe because they’ve been approved for use in food, but there is no evidence that shows these chemicals are safe when inhaled. These chemicals, in addition to traceable levels of carcinogens, simply are not safe for anyone – especially young adults – to be inhaling on a regular basis.
One 2014 study even showed that the nicotine content in cartridges can vary as much as 12 percent within one batch, meaning that there is little consistency in the amount of nicotine content delivered by an e-cigarette, even among e-cigarettes of the same brand and advertised strength. In addition, some products that claim to be nicotine-free were even shown to contain traceable levels of nicotine. Essentially, consumers have no way of knowing how much nicotine they are exposed to with each puff of an e-cigarette, increasing their potential for prolonged use and addiction.
And if you need any more of an incentive to avoid e-cigarettes, they have also been reported to spontaneously combust. E-cigarettes have exploded in consumers’ pockets or during use, leaving some individuals seriously injured or burned. Although e-cigarette incidents are relatively rare, especially when compared to the incredible number of Americans who use them, reports of injuries from e-cigarette glitches are rising, and because the e-cigarette industry is essentially unmonitored, no one is officially keeping track.
A United States Fire Administration study found at least 25 reports of e-cigarette explosions between 2009 and 2014, but there are likely more that have yet to be reported.
Somehow, the harmful side effects, potential injuries, and the largely unknown health repercussions haven’t been enough to dissuade consumers from purchasing and using e-cigarettes, as more than 2.5 million Americans still use e-cigarettes. The American society for Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research, and other public health associations have urged the FDA to extend its authority over all tobacco products, but for now, the industry remains unchecked.
