Editorial: Face e-cigarette dangers

THE ISSUE:
E-cigarettes and the liquid nicotine used with them are dangerous to health.
THE STAKES:
Both federal and state governments should take steps to regulate the devices.
When electronic cigarettes debuted in the U.S. market in 2006, the battery-powered nicotine vaporizers were touted as a less dangerous option for smokers.
Proponents of vapor-infused nicotine delivery systems argued that by omitting the chemicals and tar added to traditional tobacco products, e-cigarettes were safe.
Mounting evidence is showing the opposite. E-cigarettes, and the largely unregulated industry that produces them, pose significant health risks to users, and they present the danger of luring young people to a life of addiction to poisonous nicotine. For many, they could be a gateway to full-fledged cigarette smoking.
In an extensive review of the e-cigarette manufacturing industry in Shenzhen, China, where 90 percent of the world's supply of the devices are made, The New York Times found serious laxity in quality control, sometimes resulting in the inhaled vapors carrying heavy metals and carcinogens along with the nicotine. One study found e-cigarette vapor that contained hazardous nickel and chromium at four times the level they yield in traditional cigarette smoke.
In the United States, there are reports of e-cigarettes exploding after their lithium ion batteries overheated. Another study found that half the e-cigarettes sampled malfunctioned, tainting vapor with silicon fibers.
Perhaps because we know so little about their dangers, e-cigarette use by teens is on the rise. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that the percentage of high school students who had tried e-cigarettes during the prior month tripled between 2011 and 2013. Some companies clearly target the youth market by adding such flavors as bubble gum, cherry and cotton candy — a practice banned in conventional cigarettes.
Researchers and policymakers alike now worry that inroads made into teen smoking over the past two decades could be reversed, especially if teens are led to believe smoking an e-cigarette is without risk.
The recent death of a Montgomery County toddler who drank undiluted liquid nicotine his parents had in the home to refill e-cigarettes tragically underscores how toxic nicotine can be. A teaspoon of the liquid could be lethal to a child, and smaller amounts can cause severe illness.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers used the incident to urge federal mandates for childproof packaging on liquefied nicotine. A similar bill requiring child-resistant packaging on liquid nicotine in New York passed the state Legislature in June. It would also correct a flaw in the law that currently allows sale to minors of cartridges and bottles of liquid nicotine needed to refill e-cigarettes. We urge Gov. Cuomo to sign it into law.
More studies will likely reveal new problems with electronic cigarettes. The best approach is to treat them like the tobacco products they purport to replace. That means, for starters, don't use them.

Resource: http://www.timesunion.com