Important FDA Announcement on Flavored Cartridge-Based E-Cigarettes, Including Fruit and Mint

FDA Is Stopping Sales of Flavored E-Cigarette Cartridges Especially Appealing to Children and Adolescents

“The United States has never witnessed a substance-use epidemic growing as quickly as youth vaping.”

FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) annually survey e-cigarette use. The 2019 results strikingly show increases, particularly among youth, with startling yearly figures.

The leading medical journal JAMAreported use among high school students of % 27.5 and middle school students of % 10.5. That exceeds out of every 4 high school students, 1 than that statistic. Even worse, e-cigarette use among middle school students is also at approximately ten percent.

Encouragingly, FDA's 2 January 2020 announcement says flavored cartridges will no longer be sold in the USA. Within 30 days, all except tobacco and menthol cartridges will be withdrawn. Given popularity of fruit and mint flavors among youth, this matters greatly.

FDA received regulatory authority on 8 August 2016. All e-cigarette and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) manufacturers thereafter needed authorization for legal sales. Despite incomplete regulation, all products sold have therefore been marketed illegally.

All e-cigarettes attract youth, but these statistics explain particular flavor dangers:

• Of every 10 middle and high school students, 7 prefer flavored tobacco (% 69,6).
• Asked why they vape, middle and high school students list notable reasons: curiosity (% 55,3) and “flavors such as mint, candy, fruit, or chocolate (% 22,4).” 
• Students think vaping causes no or little harm (% 28,2).
• Perhaps contributing to this, of every 10 students, 9 (% 86,3) encounter tobacco advertising or promotions.

Overall, ending sales of flavored e-cigarette cartridges can be regarded as a positive development. However, 4 months earlier, banning all e-cigarettes was contemplated; allowing tobacco and menthol sales may be a major loss. Clearing the Way for Major Manufacturers Moving Toward Monopoly may be another consequence, still threatening given the frightening youth epidemic. FDA specifically said it was not imposing a “ban” on flavored cartridges, wording concerning those awaiting enforcement.

How Did E-Cigarettes Unexpectedly Cause Severe Lung Injury?

Since August 2019, the USA has faced serious / mysterious vaping-related lung disease with incompletely understood pathophysiology. It has caused 55 reported deaths (latest CDC update 31.12.2019)...

The lung diseases caused by e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes differ in several respects. To explain simply:

Particle diameters are the main difference because e-cigarettes contain more volatile particles . Volatility prevents equilibrium with surroundings, whereas tar stabilizes combustible-cigarette particles. Smaller particles produced can be removed by coagulation. Three lung particle-removal methods are coagulation, size-selective deposition, and hygroscopic growth.

Difficult removal and high aerosol growth increase total lung deposition, with gravity causing accumulation in bronchial airways and alveolar spaces.

Particle numbers are not greatly different, but structures differ substantially. Vaping aerosols mainly contain aqueous droplets and humectant vapors, propylene glycol or glycerol. Similar numbers therefore cannot establish comparable long-term risks. Vaping involves aerosols, whereas combustible smoke contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, known or suspected carcinogens and mostly organic compounds. Product diversity and these differences prevent clear comparisons. We await standardized products and longer follow-up studies enabling outcome assessment.

Related Topic:

- The first vaping-related death and mysterious lung disease dominate US news