This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
FDA warns that electronic cigarettes contain carcinogens, toxic chemicals
Diethylene glycol, found in antifreeze, was found in an FDA lab analysis.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Electronic cigarettes, readily available online and in shopping malls, have cartridges that contain nicotine, flavor and other chemicals but carry no health warnings comparable to FDA-approved nicotine replacement products or cigarettes.
Because the products have not been submitted to the FDA for evaluation or approval, the agency does not know, except for the limited testing it has performed, the levels of nicotine or the amounts and kinds of other chemicals that the various brands of the products deliver to the consumer.
The electronic cigarette is operated by a battery and turns nicotine and other chemicals into a vapor inhaled by the user. In one sample, the FDA’s analyses detected diethylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze and toxic to humans. In several other samples, the FDA analyses detected carcinogens, including nitrosamines. These tests indicate that these products contained detectable levels of known carcinogens and toxic chemicals to which users could potentially be exposed.
Yesterday in a press teleconference, public health experts expressed concern that electronic cigarettes could increase nicotine addiction and tobacco use among young people.
“The FDA is concerned about the safety of these products, and how they are marketed to the public,” said Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, commissioner of FDA, in a press release.
The FDA has been examining and detaining shipments of electronic cigarettes at the border, and the products examined thus far meet the definition of a combination drug-device product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. The FDA has been challenged regarding its jurisdiction over certain electronic cigarettes in a case currently pending in federal court. The agency is also planning additional activities to address its concerns about these products.
Health care professionals may report serious adverse events with the use of electronic cigarettes to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail, fax or phone.