Electronic cigarettes not a safe alternative

Debbie Mooney pestered her aunt for months to switch from regular cigarettes to the electronic, smokeless version. This way, Mooney reasoned, her aunt could still receive the nicotine she craved without exposing her family to the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Then Mooney, a Shorewood resident and mother of a 12-year-old boy, changed her mind after reading the FDA warnings regarding electronic cigarettes, e-cigarettes.

These battery-operated devices contain cartridges that transform nicotine into a vapor the user inhales. But a July 22 posting at www.fda.org reported these cigarettes contain more than the buyer bargained for.

A laboratory analysis of electronic cigarettes found samples of carcinogens, including nitrosamines, and a cocktail of toxic chemicals. One of them is diethylene glycol, an ingredient used in antifreeze.

Moreover, because no products have been submitted to the FDA for approval, the agency has no way to discern the cigarettes' levels of nicotine.

In addition, some retailers produce flavored versions which, along with their ease of purchase (they can be purchased online and at some shopping malls) may appeal to young people. Others claim the e-cigarettes can be used for nicotine-replacement therapy, as a safe alternative to smoking and a means to beat smoking bans.

Several organizations and health professionals have issued statements against e-cigarettes because of the lack of scientific evidence proving their safety and their availability to youths.

These include the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Legacy Foundation, Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium, and Dr. Richard Hurt, director of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic.

That still leaves Mooney with her concern about secondhand smoke, and she has plenty of reasons for that concern, too.

The Will County Health Department's Smoke-Free Joliet Coalition (www.smokefreejoliet.org) said secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in this country, killing 65,000 nonsmokers in the U.S. each year.

Not only does secondhand smoke aggravate asthma and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in children and adults, the smoke also contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including 69 known to cause cancer.

Mooney still supports the concept of an electronic cigarette, if someone could design a nice, safe model. "It's a good idea," she said. "They just need to work on it to find a better way."