Claiming that the liquid in e-cigarettes contains benzene, formaldehyde and nicotine, California health officials are calling for more education for users and heavier legislative action to warn the public about the supposed dangers.
“We see e-cigarettes as a growing threat that needs to be addressed,” said Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health to the Sacramento Bee. “From all the evidence we have so far, e-cigarettes are not as harmful as conventional cigarettes, but e-cigarettes are not harmless. They are not safe.”
According to a report by the California Department of Public Health, the liquid in e-cigarettes contain at least ten chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects. The report continues to explain that the method of advertising e-cigarettes is attractive to younger children who do not understand the consequences of their actions.
“As we have done with other important outbreaks or epidemics, we are taking this formal step of warning Californians about the health risks of e-cigarettes,” Chapman said. Officials are worried that the use of portable vaporizers or e-cigarettes will “re-normalize smoking behavior” and site the chemicals supposedly inhaled, recent spike in teen vaping and the number of children poisoned by e-liquids to classify vaping as a public health risk.
The report came under heavy fire from manufacturers and proponents of e-cigarettes saying that the health department report is “alarmist.”
“It inappropriately paints what is a complex public health topic as a black-and-white issue,” said Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association. “Despite the health officer’s false claims, there is ample evidence that vaping helps smokers quit and is far less hazardous than smoking.”
Conley continued by saying that electronic cigarettes have helped many people quit smoking, himself included and criticized California health officials for dismissing them as a potential aid to quit smoking.
Although cigarette smoking has declined nationwide, e-cigarette use has become a $1.5 billion industry, according to estimates. Although the vaping tools can resemble traditional cigarettes, the battery operated devices work under entirely different principles.
Currently, many California cities already have bans on vaping in public spaces.