The popularity of electronic cigarettes has grown a lot faster than the body of science about their potential health effects. But the toxicity of nicotine is well known, and the FDA is raising concern about how e-cigarette nicotine could affect children.
The agency has put the e-cig industry on notice that it plans to require nicotine exposure warnings and child-resistant packaging for liquid nicotine and nicotine-containing electronic cigarette liquid products.
The feds also are considering the same alerts for a range of nonsmokable tobacco products, including dissolvables, lotions, gels and drinks.
According MedPageToday.com, “The continuing rise in popularity of electronic nicotine devices (ENDS), such as e-cigarettes, which often use liquid nicotine and nicotine-containing e-liquids, has coincided with an increase in calls to poison control centers and visits to emergency rooms related to liquid nicotine poisoning and other nicotine exposure risks.”
The FDA is particularly concerned about the acute toxicity of nicotine for infants and children, because even small doses can be fatal for them.
E-cigarettes and some other nicotine products including cigars and cigarillos were not among the FDA’s initial list of tobacco products to be regulated when that agency gained authority over their class by the 2009 federal Tobacco Control Act. The FDA did not propose regulations for e-cigs until 2014. The initial 75-day public comment period for the draft regulation was extended, but the rule has yet to be made final.
The latest “we’re warning you” announcement is known as an “advance notice of proposed rulemaking,” and it would be followed by a proposed rule, another comment period and then issuance of a final rule.
Anyone who wants to comment on the proposed warnings may do so this month and next by linking here.
People who need to refuel their righteous anger over the scummy behavior of the tobacco industry and its enablers should read Patrick’s recent post, “U.S. Chamber of Commerce Shakes Hands with Death and Evil.”