WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a letter sent today to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) joined other Senators to call on the agency to recognize recent studies that show potential health impacts of “vapor” or “plume” on e-cigarette users and secondhand inhalers. Two new studies describe the harmful chemicals, including formaldehyde, that are sometimes released in the plume of vapor from certain high powered e-cigarettes. The FDA is currently in the process of receiving public comments to its recently proposed first-time rules extending its authority to oversee e-cigarettes, and the Senators are calling on the agency to consider this latest information as it develops its regulatory structure for the rapidly evolving market of e-cigarettes and advanced nicotine delivery products. Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
“Because many of the same limitations on smoking in public spaces do not apply universally to e-cigarettes and other advanced nicotine delivery products, these products put at risk not only adults and youth who use these devices, but potentially also those who are involuntary exposed to secondhand vapors,” write the senators in the letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. “As the FDA works to protect the public, especially children, from the health impacts associated with e-cigarettes, we simply cannot afford to lag behind in our complete understanding of the health consequences to the user and bystander of these and other advanced nicotine delivery products.”
Last month, eleven Democratic lawmakers released a report that shows a dramatic recent increase in the marketing of electronic cigarettes – or e-cigarettes – with extensive resources being dedicated to social media, sponsorship of youth-oriented events, and television and radio advertisements that reach substantial youth audiences. The report, “Gateway to Addiction? A Survey of Popular Electronic Cigarette Manufacturers and Marketing to Youth,” is the first comprehensive investigation of e-cigarette marketing tactics and was compiled using responses from eight e-cigarette manufacturers received by the lawmakers from their investigation into the industry and other publicly available information.
In February, Senators Harkin, Boxer, Markey, Durbin, Blumenthal, and Brown introduced the Protecting Children from Electronic Cigarette Advertising Act to prohibit the marketing of e-cigarettes to children and teens. The bill is endorsed by the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
