More than 80 percent of popular brand e-cigarettes sold in the U.S. that were examined in a new study were contaminated with bacterial and fungal toxins.
Researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found glucan in 81 percent of the products– single use cartridges and refillable e-liquids. Endotoxin was found in 27 percent of them.
Nearly half a million Americans still die prematurely from tobacco use each year despite the fact that it is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the U.S.1, 2. So what can be done to prevent the toll of smoking in the U.S.? The workplace is an important setting for implementing tobacco control interventions. 3, 4
A coalition of leading health organizations is criticizing "allies" of the tobacco industry for launching “an outrageous attack” on the FDA in its efforts to address the youth e-cigarette epidemic.
A statement by the American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Public Health Law Center and Truth Initiative notes that the skyrocketing use of e-cigarettes by young people calls for a comprehensive public health response including strong regulatory and enforcement efforts by the FDA.
A new warning about the skyrocketing rates of e-cigarette use among young people, a film crew member killed in New York City and 2017 work-related fatality statistics from the BLS were among the week’s top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com.
An advisory by U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams prompted by the skyrocketing rates of e-cigarette use among teens warns parents that any use of e-cigarettes is dangerous.
“E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless,” said the Surgeon General. “Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine – the addictive drug in regular cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products. Nicotine exposure during adolescence can harm the developing brain – which continues to develop until about age 25.”
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. Serving as the largest civil settlement in U.S. history, this 1998 court settlement was between 46 states and the District of Columbia and the four major tobacco companies at the time, and provided new protections against the marketing of tobacco products to kids and the opportunity for funding to address tobacco-related diseases in our nation.
Sales of JUUL, an e-cigarette shaped like a USB flash drive, grew more than seven-fold from 2016 to 2017, and held the greatest share of the U.S. e-cigarette market by December 2017. The findings, from an analysis of retail sales data from 2013-2017, were released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in JAMA.
Don’t count on the tobacco companies to reverse the sharp rise in e-cigarette use among teens. That’s the message the American Heart Association (AHA) is sending to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who promised last week that the federal government would act to curtail youthful e-cigarette use.
New research estimates that 4.5 percent of adults in the U.S. currently use e-cigarettes. That equates to more than 10.8 million e-cigarette users, most of them — 51.2 percent — under the age of 35 and about 60 percent are men. Those data come from an analysis of national self-reported health behaviors.
Teen-friendly products introduced without FDA review
August 16, 2018
Six leading public health and medical organizations today urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to stop the sale of new electronic cigarette products that have been illegally introduced in recent months without the agency’s prior review and authorization. These include numerous products similar to the Juul e-cigarettes that have become wildly popular with teens across the United States.
