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A recent article by the Peninsula, Qatar on the electronic cigarette contains false and misleading information that could lead to the deaths of smokers and electronic cigarette users.
An Open Letter to the Editor of The Peninsula, Qatar
Dear Sir
In a recent report on the electronic cigarette your newspaper stated that the electronic cigarette is more dangerous than conventional cigarettes.
Your report appears to rely on a twisted and incorrect reading of the FDA's commissioned analysis of the electronic cigarette.
Ingredients in Electronic Cigarettes
The recent analysis of the electronic cigarette found "very low levels" of four tobacco specific nitrogens in most cartidges tested. According to Professor Brad Radu these TSN's, when found in microscopic quantities, cause no danger when used in smokeless tobacco. These TSN's are also found in approved nicotine cessation products.
In one out of the eighteen cartridges tested the scientists found a single harmful carcinogen, Diethylene Glycol.
Ingredients in Conventional Cigarettes
In contrast, cigarettes contain the following carcinogens: Benz(a)anthracene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(j)fluoranthene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene, Benzo(a)pyrene, Dibenz(a,h)anthracene,, Dibenzo(a,l)pyrene, Dibenzo(a,e)pyrene, Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, Quinolineb, Dibenz(a,j)acridine, Benzo(b)furan, Furan, N-Nitrosodimethylamine, N -Nitrosoethylmethylamine, N -Nitrosodiethylamine, N -Nitroso-di-n-butylamine, N -Nitrosopyrrolidine N -Nitrosopiperidine, N -Nitrosodiethanolamine, N -Nitrosonornicotine, 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, 2-Toluidine
2,6-Dimethylaniline, 2-Naphthylamine, 4-Aminobiphenyl, AaC, PhIP, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, 1,3-Butadiene, Isoprene, Benzene, Styrene, Acetamide, Acrylamide,, Acrylonitrile, Vinyl chloride, DDT, DDE, Catechol, Caffeic acid, 1,1-Dimethylhydrazine, 2-Nitropropane, Nitrobenzene, Ethyl carbamate, Ethylene oxide, Propylene oxide, Methyleugenol, Hydrazine, Arsenic, Nickel, Chromium, Cadmium, Lead and Polonium-210.
In addition Professor Michael Siegel, a specialist in preventantive medicine, points out that regular cigarettes contain between 300 and 1400 times the quantity of Tobacco Specific Nitrogens's contained in electronic cigarettes.
Regular cigarettes also contain tar, which is not found in any electronic cigarette.
40 Times As Much Nicotine?
You also stated that electronic cigarettes contain 40 times more nicotine than regular cigarettes.
This is in contrast to Health New Zealand's tests on the Ruyan electronic cigarette, which stated that each puff contained between one half to one third of the nicotine found in an a tobacco cigarette's puff.
Meanwhile, the FDA commissoned report on Njoy and Smoking Everywhere electronic cigarette cartridges found that high nicotine cartridges contained twice as much nicotine as a nicotine inhaler, with zero nicotine cartidges containing far less than the inhaler. Even the highest level of nicotine (31.5 micrograms per puff) is lower than that of regular cigarettes.
At no point was there any suggestion that the cartidges contained more nicotine than regular cigarettes.
A Dangerous Product?
Experts such as Dr Joel Nitzkin, Chair of the Tobacco Control Task Force for the American Association of Public Health Physicians, estimate that electronic cigarettes carry one percent and one tenth of one percent of the risk of cigarettes.
That means that every e-cigarette user that switches back to regular cigarettes is between one hundred times and one thousands times more likely to die of smoking.
Your Article is Killing Smokers
Cigarettes kill one third of long term users.
By persuading people to smoke real cigarettes or to revert from electronic cigarettes to real cigarettes, there can be little doubt that your article could lead to the deaths of smokers.
We call on you to issue a retraction of the falsehoods contained in your story.
Perhaps there is still time to undo some of the damage your false and misleading 'reporting' has caused.
Best regards
Jean Rasbridge
Managing Director
E Cigarette Direct
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