Are electronic cigarettes actually safe for you?

Cancer surgeon Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi who is also one of the nation’s most vocal anti-tobacco campaigners tells us why electronic cigarettes are very hazardous. 

Electronic cigarettes are being increasingly used by youngsters as a safer alternative to regular tobacco cigarettes (though they were recently banned in Maharashtra and Punjan). It’s available in malls and online stores and was even endorsed by Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor as a safe alternative to regular cigarettes. The marketing campaign to promote e-cigarettes is slick and clever and is targeting the youth of metros and this is bound to have huge health repercussions. We’ve still not recognised the threat e-cigarettes pose and haven’t realised that it is going to become a big public health issue. Here are some things you didn’t know about electronic cigarettes: 

What is an e-cigarettes? 

An e-cigarette is nicotine containing electrical device that mimics the act of tobacco smoking by producing hot vapour and often the flavour of smoke. The device uses heat to vaporise a glycerine-based liquid solution. The device is primarily meant to deliver pure nicotine and sold as an alternative to cigarettes. Nicotine comes under category of ‘drugs’ and need to be marketed appropriately.

How harmful is nicotine?

Tobacco has got two major harmful ingredients – cancer causing chemicals (nitrosamines, hydrocarbons etc) and nicotine. Nicotine is a highly addictive and noxious substance. Even a small dosage of nicotine has been found to be fatal for life. It is a cardiac stimulant, causes severe psychological disturbances and shown to have cancer causing effect in animals. Because of these serious side-effects, Food Safety Standard Act of India 2006 section 2.3.4 prohibits addition of nicotine to any food substance.

Where is the evidence that nicotine replacement is beneficial?

Researchers believed that offering purified nicotine, after removing cancer causing chemicals, will be a safer alternative to ‘whole’ tobacco. However, several well-conducted studies have proved that the philosophy of ‘nicotine replacement therapy’ has not made any dramatic impact. A recent randomised trial showed addition of Nicotine replacement therapy to smoking pregnant women did not improve cessation. To be precise, currently there is no affordable and effective drug to help smokers quit.

What is the difference between e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement therapy?

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is offered under medical supervision for a defined period at defined point of attempted quitting. However, usage of e-cigarettes completely lacks any medical supervision and is freely available to unsuspecting patrons mainly youth! This lack of trade restriction makes e-cigs major public health hazard that is worse than tobacco.

What is the status of e-cigs in other parts of world?

Since 2008, the US FDA has been stopping shipments of e-cigarettes from entering the country and Canada fully banned the devices in March 2009. The US FDA issued a warning on 22nd July 2009 not to use electronic cigarettes.

What are the analysis results of e-cigs by USFDA?

USFDA has tested two of the devices: the Smoking Everywhere and Njoy products and found them harmful. At a news conference, FDA analyst Benjamin Westenberger described testing 19 cartridges from the two e-cigarettes at the FDA’s St. Louis facility. Among the findings:

• All but one cartridge marked as having no nicotine actually contained the addictive substance.
• Cartridges marked as having low, medium, or high amounts of nicotine actually had varying amounts of nicotine.
• One of the cartridges contained a toxic antifreeze ingredient, di-ethylene glycol.
• The devices emitted tobacco-specific nitrosamines which are human carcinogens.
• The devices emitted tobacco-specific impurities suspected of being harmful to humans.

How are e-cigs advertised and marketed?

E-cigarette makers and distributors argue that e-cigs are safer than cigarettes. Some have presented anecdotal never-proven case studies to claim that their products have helped people quit smoking. However, no well-conducted study has ever proven that e-cigs help people quit or they are safe. The synthetic nicotine in the e-cigs is clearly a harmful substance and sale of such products need to be strictly regulated.

Are there any nicotine-free e-cigs?

Though there are nicotine-free versions available, hardly any one buys it. E-cigarettes and similar products are sold online and in scores of mall kiosks across India. Non-Nicotine E-cigs have a clear potential to entice new smokers with their fruit and candy flavours.

The views expressed  are Dr Chaturvedi’s, theHealthSite doesn’t necessarily endorse those views. 

Dr Chaturvedi is a Professor and Head Neck Surgeon at Tata Memorial Hospital, a tertiary cancer centre under Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. He is the co author of the Text Book of Head Neck Surgery, Editor of the International Journal of Head Neck Surgery and published more than 100 papers in peer reviewed journals. He is an accomplished researcher and received Robert Maxwell Byers Award from the American Head Neck Society in 2010. He has been invited as visiting faculty in 22 institutions in 16 countries. He is very active in the field of tobacco control and founded the popular ‘Voice of Tobacco Victims” campaign that played pivotal role in nationwide ban on Gutka. For his contribution in public health, he has received Outstanding Young Indian Award, WHO Director General Award and Judy Wilkenfield award. He was also nominated as the Global Cancer Ambassador by American Cancer Society. He was among the 5 civil society representatives who spoke on tobacco control in special summit of United Nations in 2011.

Officials destroy expired soft drinks in Vellore

Expired soft drinks of several leading brands that were on sale in different shops in Vellore were destroyed on Thursday.

In view of death of a Cuddalore girl after consuming soft drink of a leading brand recently, food safety officials in Vellore district started crackdown on soft drinks that bear the same batch number of the bottle the girl reportedly consumed.

The team of officials checked lots of shops in new bus stand, a godown of a stockist of the beverage, shops in Tirupatthur, Jolarpet, Arcot and Ranipet.

Though they were on lookout for the soft drink bottles bearing the same batch number that was allegedly responsible for the death of the girl, they found and destroyed large number of expired soft drink bottles.

Worth of the soft drinks destroyed on Thursday is reportedly around Rs. 10,000.

Laxity undoes hi-tech food packing - Experts Urge Consumers, Retailers To Be Vigilant

Chennai: Significant technological advances in the packing industry may have increased the shelf life of food products but lack of enforcement of safety norms remains a serious concern in the state. 

The death of an eight-yearold girl — reportedly after she consumed a soft drink — in Cuddalore has again trained the spotlight on food adulteration and lack of checks. 

Low levels of consumer awareness make the situation more dangerous, say activists. Santhana Rajan of Consumer Association of India says few customers check the shelf life of food products. 

Health experts say the problem is exacerbated by the hightemperature, high-humidity conditions, which cause food to go bad fast, in Chennai and other parts of the state. 

The perils of consuming spoilt or adulterated food cannot be stressed enough, doctors say. Deaths are rare, they say, but consumption of adulterated food increases the risk of cancer and liver and heart damage in the long term. 

Tamil Nadu Bakers Federation (TNBF) president S Kumar says soft drink wholesalers, for example, regularly visit outlets that stock their products in urban areas and shopkeepers return beverages past their use-by date. “But this is not the case in rural areas where retailers sell soft drinks that are several months old,” he said. 

But customers say fake products, including soft drinks, are a major problem in Chennai where unscrupulous retailers are ready to sell them for a marginally higher profit. 

TNBF secretary S P Natarajan says it is the responsibility of retailers to alert distributors well before products reach their use-by date. 

“The standard practice for bakeries is to use bread and milk that goes bad to make other bakery products like rusk and paneer that are safe to consume,” he said. 

Sources in the soft drink industry say some companies divert old stock for sale on trains. “The passengers buy the soft drinks because they don’t have many alternatives,” he said. 

1,000 soft drink bottles seized 

The food safety and drugs administration department on Thursday seized in Anna Nagar more than 1,000 bottles of the drink of the same batch which caused the death of an eight-year-old girl. District food safety officer S Lakshmi Narayan said they seized 1,080 bottles of pet bottles with batch number AH 46 L4 with manufacturing date 23-01-2014 from a distributor. “We have stopped the sale of the soft drinks carrying the batch number and manufacturing date. The department has also created awareness among vendors to stop the sales of the affected batch”. Complaints can be made to the food safety department at 04423813095 or emailed to commrfssa@gmail.com. 

2500 PEPSI BOTTLES SEIZED, SAMPLES LIFTED IN CHENNAI

DINAMALAR NEWS

DINAMALAR NEWS

Deadline for registration under Food Safety Act extended

Bathinda, February 13

The deadline for licence and registration under the Food Safety Act has been extended by another six months till August 4. 

Not taking any chances of imposing the Act forcefully on the food business operators in an election year, the Central government has taken the step. The State Health Department has received a notification for the extension of the deadline that had expired on February 4.

Implemented two years ago on August 5, the Act makes it mandatory for the food business operators to get licences or register with the Health Department on the basis of their annual turnover.

It aims at not only bringing all the food operators under a single roof but also implement the consolidated rules and regulations on them.

As per the Health Department figures, there are 5,000 businessmen who should get licences and around 65,000 small-time vendors who should get registered.