Dutch government warns about e-cigarettes

The Dutch Health Ministry sounded an early warning about the possible health risks of electronic cigarettes.

The Dutch Health Ministry sounded an early warning on Thursday about the possible health risks of electronic cigarettes, announcing plans to clamp down on labelling ahead of European regulations.

The move followed an analysis of existing scientific research by the National Institute for Public Health, the leading Dutch government health advisory body.

The institute said it was concerned about a lack of evidence on the possible health effects of e-cigarettes, and said that as a precaution, they should not be used by pregnant women or in the vicinity of children.

Some health experts say e-cigarettes – battery-powered metal tubes that turn nicotine-laced liquid into vapour – may be the answer to helping millions of smokers to quit cigarettes and thereby avoid the damaging health effects of smoke.

Smoking tobacco causes lung cancer and other chronic respiratory diseases and is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease, the world's number one killer.

May outsell conventional cigarettes

Tobacco has an annual death toll of 6 million people, and the World Health Organisation says that could exceed 8 million by 2030 unless something urgent is done to stop people smoking.

All the top tobacco companies are investing in e-cigarettes, which some analysts have predicted may outsell conventional cigarettes in 10 years.

But they are far from universally accepted as a public health tool - with some critics worried they will not break nicotine addiction and may be a "gateway" to regular cigarettes - and the fast-growing market is largely unregulated.

The Dutch institute also recommended banning flavour and scent enhancers in e-cigarettes that contain nicotine because of concerns they may attract children to smoking.

Citing the institute's findings, Dutch deputy health minister Martin Van Rijn argued that e-cigarettes are as addictive as tobacco cigarettes because they contain nicotine, and he said there was no proof of claims by manufacturers that they help smokers quit.

"There is insufficient scientific evidence to be able to say whether the quantities of toxins in the exhaled air are dangerous for bystanders," Van Rijn wrote in a letter to parliament on Thursday.

Flashing lights

"In advance of European regulations, I will take measures in national legislation in regard to advertising, safety, quality and labelling of e-cigarettes," the letter said.

Additional research will be conducted by the institute to learn more about e-cigarettes, the ministry said.

The warning came as Britain signalled it would force tobacco companies to scrap branded cigarette packaging on Thursday in an attempt to reduce the number of children who may be drawn to smoking by striking and brightly coloured packs.

The Dutch institute raised concerns on its website last week that e-cigarettes are attractive to young people because of bright colours, flashing lights and jewellery-like appearance.

Roughly 11 to 18 percent of Dutch smokers have tried the e-cigarette, while about 5 percent said they use it regularly, the ministry said.

More than $2 billion

Market consultant Euromonitor estimates the world market for electronic cigarettes was more than $2 billion last year, with the United States accounting for a quarter of that.

A few countries have banned them outright – such as Brazil, Norway and Singapore – while others are opting for varying degrees of regulation, in some cases including limits on advertising and curbs on their use in public places.

Big tobacco companies are grappling with declining sales of tobacco in a number of markets due to increasing government regulation and more health-aware consumers, as well as smuggling and an economic downturn.

Philip Morris International Inc, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes, said this month it plans to enter the e-cigarette market next year, saying it is the "greatest growth opportunity".

Imperial Tobacco Group plans to launch two electronic cigarettes in its new fiscal year.

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E-Cigarettes May Not Be Gateway to Smoking: Study

It found few teens go on to smoke cigarettes, use other kinds of tobacco after 'vaping'

E-cigarettes don't appear to entice teens to try smoking tobacco, a new study says.

The researchers noted that doesn't mean that e-cigarettes are risk-free, but it should reassure parents that teens who try the devices may simply be doing so for the novelty and aren't necessarily setting themselves up for a lifetime of nicotine addiction.

Last month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that "vaping," or inhaling the nicotine vapors from e-cigarettes, might be a dangerous new fad that could set teens up for smoking.

In just one year, the number of kids in grades six through 12 who said they'd ever tried an e-cigarette more than doubled, rising from 3.3 percent to 6.8 percent. Among the 2.1 percent who said they were current e-cigarette users, more than three-quarters said they also smoked regular cigarettes.

Given that overlap, many health experts worried that e-cigarettes might be acting like a gateway drug, sucking kids more deeply into nicotine addiction, and law officials urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products.

The new study suggests that may not be the case.

Researchers surveyed 1,300 college students about their tobacco and nicotine use. The average age of study participants was 19.

"We asked what the first tobacco product they ever tried was and what their current tobacco use looked like," said researcher Theodore Wagener, an assistant professor of general and community pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, in Oklahoma City.

Overall, 43 students said their first nicotine product was an e-cigarette. Of that group, only one person said they went on to smoke regular cigarettes. And the vast majority who started with e-cigarettes said they weren't currently using any nicotine or tobacco.

"It didn't seem as though it really proved to be a gateway to anything," said Wagener, who presented his findings at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, in National Harbor, Md.

Study findings presented at medical conferences are considered preliminary since they haven't been carefully reviewed by outside experts for publication in a medical journal.

E-cigarettes, which use a heating element to vaporize a liquid nicotine solution, are relatively easy for teens to purchase.

While federal rules block the sale of regular cigarettes to anyone under age 18, there are currently no such rules for e-cigarettes. About half of states prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, but they can also be bought online.

The devices are advertised on TV and popular YouTube videos. They come in sweet flavors that appeal to teens like green apple, watermelon and bubble gum.

"The use of these products is increasing dramatically," while little is known about the risks, said Scott Leischow, who co-leads the cancer prevention and control program at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

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