July 17, 2013
Capstone, which describes itself as "a Washington, DC-based policy analysis and regulatory due diligence research firm that provides expert advice to long-term investors," has evaluated Lorillard's criticism of the FDA TPSAC analysis of menthol and concluded that Lorillard's "the criticism of their [TPSAC's] research is unwarranted."
In particular, Capstone agreed that the conclusion that youth who initiated with menthol cigarettes are at greater risk of progression to established smoking and experience higher levels of nicotine dependence was correct.
For access to the report please contact Capstone at [email protected]
July 2, 2013
Reiner Hanewinkel and his colleagues have just published a paper that examines the interaction between socioeconomic status and other social determinants of health behavior and the effects of exposure to on screen smoking on youth smoking in six European countries. They found that the effect of exposure to smoking was independent of these variables, indicating that the effects occur across the board.
Here is the abstract of their paper:
June 30, 2013
Here is the summary of the report, Electronic Cigarettes – An Overview, issued a couple months ago:
Electronic cigarettes are novel products emerging on the market just a couple of years ago. Consequently, there are only few scientific studies on the health implications of using electronic cigarettes.
Based on current data, the following statements can be made:
Product characteristics
■ E-cigarettes cannot be rated as safe at the present time.
■ Consumers do not have reliable information on product quality.
■ Electronic cigarettes have various technical flaws (leaking cartridges, accidental intake of nicotine when replacing cartridges, possibility of unintended overdose).
■ Some manufacturers provide insufficient and partly wrong information about their liquids.
Health effects
June 30, 2013
The Philippine FDA has issued an advisory on e-cigarettes, "Secondary exposure to e-cigarette emission might be harmful to health."
The Philippine FDA notes that "Electronic cigarettes are not emission-free. E-cigarettes contain volatile organic substances, including propylene glycol, flavors and nicotine, and are emitted as mist or aerosol into indoor air. Study showed that these ultrafine liquid particles ... may penetrate deeply into lungs." These ultrafine particles are an important cause of heart attacks with a nonlinear dose-response, i.e., low levels of exposure have big effects.
The advisory goes on to state, "four of the metals measures, namely sodium, iron, aluminum and nickel, were present at higher levels that those known in cigarette smoke. Five others, namely copper, magnesium, lead, chromium, manganese, were present in the same amount, while potassium and zinc were present at lower levels. Nickel and chromium are carcinogenic and lead is suspected to be carcinogenic. If several people are using e-cigarettes in a room at the same time, considerable indoor air pollution will accumulate and may result in harmful second-hand exposure." [emphasis added]
June 27, 2013
A paper entitled "EffiCiencyand Safety of an eLectronic cigAreTte (ECLAT) as Tobacco Cigarettes Substitute: A Prospective 12-Month Randomized Control Design Study" was just published in PLoS One that is being interpreted as indicating that e-cigarettes lead to cessation of conventional cigarettes among people who are not planning to quit smoking regular cigarettes.
For the reasons discussed below, this is not an appropriate interpretation of the results in this study.