Originally posted by ANNED
I have been going to a stop smoking program for people that have a problem stopping at the VA
The doctors there don't recommend E-Cigarette's because of the source of the nicotine compound in them being from China.
Under US laws even ones that claim they are made in the US could be using nicotine shipped in from china in 55 gal drums and packaged into the
cartridges in the US and labeled US made.
As with anything from china who know what is in the product.
It is very true that a lot of players have jumped into the market, and most of them are using products from China. As with anything these days, it is
well worth it to do a bit of research before choosing a product and in particular choosing the e-liquid that will be vaporized.
Almost ALL of the hardware comes from China - but there are several companies that are marketing here that are producing their e-liquid 'flavors'
here with U.S. products.
THe FDA did a study in 2009 (that was very flawed) that tested the amount of other trace products in e-cig liquid. They found (in one sample) one
tobacco-based carcinogen that was at a level equal to that found in an FDA-approved nicotine patch (and hundreds of times lower than the amount
ingested with a tobacco cig); they found another product (from China) that contained a trace amount of diethylene glycol (FYI trace amount too small
to be considered a hazard). This result was not replicated in any of the other 18 samples, nor has it been replicated elsewhere. But this study was
widely trumpeted as a scare tactic "theres anti-freeze in them e-cigs, ya don't know what's in them!!!" kind of reaction.
Well....perform that same test on tobacco. For one, you would have difficulty isolating almost 10,000 different chemicals (most studies can only
isolate a few thousand of them); and there is a long list of dangerous chemicals in much greater amounts than any found in the flawed FDA study of
e-cigs - even if that study is taken at face value, it does not demonstrate any significant harm of e-cigs, and especially when compared to the
product it replaces (tobacco). E-cigs don't have carbon monoxide, no benzene, no ammonia, no acetylene, no hydrogen cyanide, no arsenic, no
methane...and several thousand more (for reference, see
this
page)
I use one product that performs testing on all components, and publishes the batch testing of all ingredients per lot number on it's website; and
another product that purchases only FDA-inspected and approved products. So even if there is a drum of nicotine from China that ends up in my e-cig,
it first gets inspected by the FDA and then by the quality control of the packaging company.
Frankly, until we take over our own economy, there is a lot more to fear from China products than what they may be putting into e-cigs, and getting
away from those products would require going to the Moon (if you could find a way to get there that didn't use Chinese-made goods). Hell, how much
Chinese tobacco do you think U.S. tobacco companies are packaging into their products??? And maybe...if the FDA and Big Pharma would step out of the
way, and Big Tax keeps its paws off, and the gub-mint keeps Big Tobacco from squashing the market, maybe, more U.S. manufacturers would run with this
market and further reduce that concern.
However I would personally say that my concerns about vaping electronic cigarettes (even when it is from China) is minimal to non-existent when
compared to the concerns of mine about smoking tobacco. The known risks of the ingredients of both make it a no-brainer that (although not PROVEN safe
by big gub-mint studies) this product is in order of magnitudes safer now and long-term than smoking, to me and everyone around me.
and yes, I am now going into my 4th week, and this is the first time I quit that I didn't count the days. And I can take long walks again, and no
more coughing in the mornings...and my 'ashtray' that fills with empty cartridges smells like fruits and berries, and is totally recyclable. Yet, I
still take it outside at work - aint' giving up my 'smoke break"!!!