“We cannot sit back and accept a blanket message from Public Health England that vaping is 95% less harmful than tobacco smoking because (a) nobody knows exactly what substances are in these liquids, although we do know, in direct contravention of EU regulations, they contain chemicals toxic to the lungs; (b) there is an epidemic of vaping-related chest disease and deaths in America and (c) it took over 30 years for the long-term harmful effects of tobacco to be appreciated,” claimed amongst other things, a letter by Warren Lenney and 15 other paediatric healthcare professionals.
In response to these claims, NNA Vice Chair Louise Ross, pointed out that the original letter was “an argument based on error and supposition” and that it would be more helpful to “consider the positive effect of parents who smoked switching to vaping”.
UK vaping products are highly regulated
To the startling claim that “nobody knows exactly what substances are in these liquids,” Ross replied that in fact the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency knows exactly what’s in them, and that in the UK the products are highly regulated. Additionally, pointed out Ross, reports by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) indicate that vaping is displacing smoking among young people, and that there is only negligible use among never-smokers.
With regards to the comment linking nicotine e-cigs to the “vaping-related chest disease and deaths in America,” the latest report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has confirmed that the condition was caused by Vitamin E Acetate Oil, found in illicit THC vaping cartridges, not regulated nicotine products.
Read Further: The Guardian
