The use of electronic cigarettes is a fad that’s been running for quite some time now. Intended to provide an alternative to nicotine patches that gives you something in your hand to actually simulate the act of smoking, it could be that these devices do more harm than good. The possibility of scandal in this industry became quite obvious when one American man lost his teeth and part of his mouth after an electronic cigarette exploded while he was using it.
The e-cigarette manufacturers Nicolites recently received a warning from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for exaggerated claims made on its website. The website claimed that the vapour produced by e-cigarettes was completely harmless when inhaled, and stated in another place that nicotine did not pose a health hazard. Neither of these claims had the scientific back-up you would expect in an anti-cancer product. The company Nicolites says in its defense that each of the ingredients contained in its e-cigarettes had been previously tested in the UK and passed toxicology tests proving its safety. However, the ASA did not find this response satisfactory – the ingredients may have been tested individually, but they were not tested in combination. Furthermore, the tests in question took place on animals, and had not been put through human trials before being released on the market. The toxicology tests in question took place under less than scrupulous conditions and actually found that e-cigarettes contained at most an equivalent risk to cigarettes. If we consider that even the company’s own research only assessed its product to be as harmful as regular cigarettes, we can clearly see the misinformation taking place. For the sake of fair branding and the wellbeing of their users, e-cigarettes should no longer be labeled as ‘harmless’.
The ASA have, fortunately, now banned such misleading statements in the advertising of this very addictive new product. The dispute has raised general awareness about the harmful possibilities of e-cigarettes, which thankfully seem to be coming to the end of their novelty use. Unlike tried and tested nicotine supplements, they may turn out to be a more harmful, and expensive version of regular cigarettes! It is important that we watch how the e-cigarette industry portrays its product, and take special care to see that it does not aim its advertising at non-smokers. If there is any place in the market for such a product, it should be as a medically safe device helping current smokers kick the habit and return to wellness.
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