Washington
(CNN) -- "Electronic cigarettes"
that vaporize nicotine juice to inhale instead
of smoke from burning tobacco do not deliver
as promised, according to research at Virginia
Commonwealth University.
"They are
as effective at nicotine delivery as puffing
on an unlit cigarette," said Dr. Thomas
Eissenberg, at the school's Institute for Drug
and Alcohol Studies.
His study,
funded by the federal National Cancer
Institute, is the first by American doctors to
check the function of so-called "no-smoke
tobacco" devices, which are unregulated
in the United States for sale or use.
The units are
shaped like a cigarette and contain a battery
that heats a filament to vaporize liquid
nicotine in a refillable cartridge. Smokers
buy the devices to get around no-smoking
restrictions and to attempt to quit
conventional cigarettes.
Some users
nickname what they're doing as "vaping"
instead of smoking, to reflect the vapor
produced by the heating element. The devices
are marketed as an alternative to smoking, but
retailers avoid making claims about health or
safety.
Fans have
established a Web site,
www.e-cigarette-forum.com. Founder Oliver
Kershaw said the site "is the largest
e-smokers community online with some 26,000
members, most of whom are in the U.S."
Jimi Jackson, a
former tobacco smoker in Richmond, Virginia,
who sells electronic cigarettes, is convinced
there are immediate health advantages in
avoiding the known cancer-causing substances
in the smoke of a burning cigarette.
"I smoked
37 years, and when I found them, I was, like,
'Thank, you Jesus,' " Jackson said with a
laugh, as a reporter visited his shop, No
Smoke Virginia, coincidentally just a few
blocks from where the research was conducted
at Virginia
Commonwealth.
In March, the
Food and Drug Administration imposed a ban on
continued imports of the devices, pending
regulatory review for any health risks.
The latest
clinical evidence suggests users are not
getting the addictive substance they get from smoking
tobacco. "These e-cigs do not
deliver nicotine," Eissenberg said of the
findings he expects to publish in an upcoming
issue of the British Medical Journal.
This past
summer, Eissenberg recruited smokers without
prior experience using e-cigarettes to
volunteer to use two popular brands of the
devices for a set period. The 16 subjects were
regularly measured in a clinical setting for
the presence of nicotine in their bodies,
their reported craving for conventional
cigarettes, and certain physiological effects
such as a change in heart rate.
"Ten puffs
from either of these electronic cigarettes
with a 16 mg nicotine cartridge delivered
little to no nicotine," the study found.
But the units
may deliver hazardous chemicals, according to
preliminary checks by federal regulators. In a
notice to importers, the FDA
blocked continued shipments after finding
diethylene glycol, a chemical used in
antifreeze that is toxic to humans.
The
government's statement noted there are no
health warnings on the products, and that
"the FDA analyses detected carcinogens,
including nitrosamines."
The notice of
the import ban says "the product appears
to be a combination drug-device," that
"requires pre-approval, registration and
listing with the FDA" in order to be
marketed in the United States.
A company
challenging the import ban claims in federal
court documents to have sold 600,000 of the
devices in a year's time through a network of
120 distributors in the United States.
"We are on
the verge of going out of business, which is
why we are suing the FDA in U.S. District
Court," said Washington, attorney Kip
Schwartz, representing a company called
"Smoking Everywhere," a U.S.
wholesaler that was importing the devices from
China.
The lawsuit
questions the FDA's authority to block
shipments of a non-tobacco product, and says
the agency has violated its statutory process
for product review. Liquid nicotine is
available on the open market through
pharmaceutical houses and vendors who sell
e-cigarettes.
A judge has yet
to rule on the company's request for an
injunction that would allow imports to resume.
"There has been no change," said FDA
spokesman Siobhan DeLancey. She said "a
decision in the case is still pending, with no
timeline."
President Obama,
who has described himself as an occasional
smoker, has been offered one of the devices by
Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns. The Republican
lawmaker's office said the president did not
respond.
An
administration spokesman last year said the
White House was not aware of the offer.
In a copy of a
letter to the chief executive dated March 26,
Stearns wrote, "I have recently given out
e-cigarettes to a few members of Congress and
they have become quite a hit."
Sales
of the devices continue at shopping mall
kiosks and small storefront retailers,
apparently drawing from stock imported before
the FDA began to block shipments from overseas
suppliers.
The Electronic Cigarette
is fabulous new technology that hundreds of
thousands of Americans (and millions more worldwide)
have found is a logical alternative to the one product
we know is a direct cause of death--the smoking of
tobacco. This Truth about Ecigs website is
brought to you by the Tobacco Vapor Electronic
Cigarette Association, the voice of the Electronic
Cigarette Industry. You have the right to make an informed decision!