Cancer Groups Urge More Regulation of E-Cigarettes

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The potential health hazards of e-cigarettes remain unclear, and more regulation on their use is needed, say two groups representing cancer researchers and specialists.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) together issued a list of recommendations on Thursday aimed at bringing e-cigarette regulations more in line with those of traditional cigarettes.

In a news release, the two groups pointed out that e-cigarettes, which are not smoked but deliver nicotine in a aerosolized form, are not yet regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. They called on the FDA to regulate all types of e-cigarette products that also meet the standard definition of tobacco products.

Those that do not meet that standard should be regulated by whichever means the FDA feels appropriate, the cancer groups added.

Among other recommendations is a call for e-cigarette manufacturers to provide the FDA with a full and detailed list of their products’ ingredients; a call for warning labels on all e-cigarette packaging and ads to advise consumers about the perils of nicotine addiction; and a ban on all marketing and selling of e-cigarettes to minors.

Containers for the liquid nicotine used for e-cigarettes should also have childproof caps, to reduce the chances of accidental poisoning of children, the groups said.

ASCO and AACR further urged that some of the tax monies levied on both traditional and e-cigarette products be used for research into whether or not e-cigarettes have any real value as a smoking-cessation tool, or contain any health hazards.

“We are concerned that e-cigarettes may encourage nonsmokers, particularly children, to start smoking and develop nicotine addiction,” ASCO President Dr. Peter Paul Yu explained in a news release. “While e-cigarettes may reduce smoking rates and attendant adverse health risks, we will not know for sure until these products are researched and regulated.”

ASCO and AACR aren’t the first organizations of health professionals to come out for more regulation of e-cigarettes. In 2014, three leading medical groups — the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization — all advocated for more restrictions on “vaping” devices.

The recommendations are being simultaneously published Jan. 8 in ASCO’s Journal of Clinical Oncology and the AACR journal Clinical Cancer Research.

More information

For more on e-cigarettes, head to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Source: HealthDay

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