Vape News Headlines:
Science Says Vaping Much Safer Than Smoking | China Drafts E-Cig Legislation | Vape Shops OK In Hospitals Says UK Gov | FDA Threatens E-Liquid Companies and Vape Reviewer Says Vaporesso Factory Is “Impressive”
Expert Review Shows Vaping Considerably Safer Than Smoking
An international team of scientists has reviewed the science around vaping and has confirmed it is considerably safer than smoking.
The team led, by Professor Riccardo Polosa a renowned Tobacco Harm reduction and vaping advocate, found that many studies are ‘poorly designed’ and ‘misleading’ and those using animals tend not to compare smoking vs vaping. The review says it’s those animal based experiments that has led to sensational media headlines.
Studies carried out on humans has shown:
- Improvements in symptoms (cough, phlegm, etc.)
- In asthma, ‘progressive significant improvement’
- In COPD (emphysema), reduced symptoms, fewer infections, improved breathing and exercise capacity
- No studies reported serious adverse events, which is consistent with the real world experience with vaping.
It was Professor Polosa who famously showed the UK’s Science and Technology Committee a slice of burned toast to show just the impossibly high temperatures needed to vape at to run any risk whatsoever of damage to their lungs. He also told the MPS the air outside the Houses of Parliament was more dangerous than sitting next to a bunch of vapers!
The review did acknowledge that more long term studies were needed, particularly looking at human subjects that vaped but had never smoked – which will be difficult as that instance is extremely rare.
To that end Polosa says it is crucial vaping is only taken up by previous smokers.
China Drafts First E-Cigarette ‘Standard’
With America possibly becoming a tough place for vape sales in the near future, China is now ready to embrace vaping and has released draft ‘standards’ that all products should abide by.
Given the country is not only the spiritual home for all things vape it’s also pretty much an untapped market and with 300 million smokers, it could be rich pickings for vaping companies.
The Government has been working on the ‘standards’ for quite some time and the early release shows seven ‘chapters’:
- 1. Scope
- 2. Reference standards
- 3. Terms and definitions
- 4. Technical requirements
- 5. Testing methods
- 6. Packaging, labeling and instruction manual
- 7. Storage and transportation
There’s also a number of addendum’s including regulations around what’s permitted in e-liquids and:
- Mechanic and physical performance, such as sealing, maximum surface temperature, etc.;
- Electrical performance, such as input/output power, batteries, etc.; and
- Chemical performance; for example, materials used for components in contact with the mouth or e-liquid must comply with the corresponding food packaging standards of China, such as GB 4806.7 on plastics articles, GB 9685 on food packaging additives, etc.
For e-liquid:
- Purity and concentration limits for nicotine;
- Requirements for base liquid, including glycerin, propylene glycol and water;
- Limits for impurities and contaminants; and
- Requirements for material in contact with e-liquid; they must comply with the corresponding food packaging standards.
It’s unclear when the final set if standards will be released, but one thing’s for sure this is not only huge news for the vape world, but also fantastic news for the millions of smokers in the country.
Call To Ban Vaping and Vape Shops At UK NHS Hospitals
A UK MP’s call to get vaping and vape shops banned from hospitals was shot down by the UK Government.
No idea why Ranil Jayawardena, Conservative MP for North East Hampshire, felt the need to attack vaping, apart from a bit of virtue signalling in a bid to get a bit of publicity maybe…
In a letter to the Government the MP wrote:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban (a) e-cigarette shops and (b) smoking on NHS hospital property.
This guy is so far out of step with current UK Government thinking it’s scary.
Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary basically said no adding:
…we have introduced measures to regulate e-cigarettes. These measures reduce the risk of harm to children, protect against any risk of renormalisation of tobacco use, provide assurance on relative safety for users, and give businesses legal certainty. This has enabled the UK to implement appropriate standards for products whilst allowing smokers to move to e-cigarettes should they wish.The Government has made a commitment to review the TRPR by May 2021 to consider its regulatory impact. In addition, as announced in the Tobacco Control Plan the Government will review where the UK’s exit from the European Union offers us opportunities to re-appraise current regulation to ensure this continues to protect the nation’s health.
The Government has no plans to introduce legislative proposals to ban e-cigarettes, e-cigarette shops or smoking on National Health Service property.
Nicely put.
FDA Threatens 4 US E-Liquid Companies
In what could be the opening salvo in an all out war on flavoured e-liquids, the FDA has sent warning letters to 4 e-liquid companies.
They want 44 flavours removed from sale as they currently don’t have ‘marketing authorization’ and should therefore not be for sale in America.
The companies involved are:
- Mighty Vapors LLC
- Liquid Labs USA LLC
- V8P Juice International LLC
- Hookah Imports Inc
Some of the flavours are: Hulk Tears NicSalts – Neon Sours Salts and Sexy Senorita – lol at the last one.
Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless said this was part of the ‘agressive’ campaign aimed at illegal vape sales “amid the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use in America.”
The companies involved have 15 days to either remove or show how they plant to get proper authorization and Sharpless said:
Today’s actions make clear that we will continue to keep a close watch on whether companies are breaking the law and will take swift steps when violations are found. Our work in this area has already resulted in a number of companies removing products from the market.
The marketing of illegal tobacco products is particularly concerning given the epidemic of youth vaping that we’re facing, which we know has resulted in part from irresponsible practices of manufacturers, importers and retailers who have targeted kids in their marketing of these products.
We are committed to tackling the troubling trend of youth e-cigarette use by continuing to use all available regulatory tools to ensure these products aren’t being marketed to, sold to, or used by kids.
It is critical that we remain vigilant in our efforts to stem the increase in use and nicotine addiction in children driven by e-cigarettes, which threatens to erase the years of progress we’ve made combating tobacco use among kids.
I reckon this is a taste of things to come as the war on vaping in America goes up a gear.
Vaporesso Factory Tour
Vaporesso opened its factory doors to popular reviewer Julio Ruades Esteban, and he was impressed with what he saw.
Any misconceptions he had about the standards in China were blown away after spending 2 days at the Shenzhen set-up.
Vaporesso production director David Bu revealed the sheer number of products the company manufactures: 2,000 tanks, 1,500,000 mods, and 8,000,000 coils, per month!
There is a massive effort behind every product. We care about the brand; we show endless passion to our vapers.
On his return Julio said:
It destroyed all predispositions about factories in China when I entered the factory, and my first impression was how strict they were on cleanliness.
The first thing I had to do was put on a full set of dust-proof clothing and the air shower system, which I feel takes the cleanliness into the next level.
And then when I went deep into the factory, I was amazed by what I saw and heard. There were such big-scale production lines, and the whole workshop was filled only by the noise of pure work!
What impressed me the most is VAPORESSO designed devices to test their devices.
If there isn’t a machine out there that can test at a high enough level, they will make it themselves. Testing battery charging, device endurance, and all the e-liquids in the market so that the materials are suitable to match the ever-evolving e-juice market.
Good to hear!
More vaping news on Wednesday!
Wow, Vaporesso’s factory looks pretty nice. Hope there could be more tours like that.