By Join Together Staff October 9, 2013 Leave a comment Filed in Government, Marketing And Media, Prevention & Tobacco

Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday voted against tight regulations for e cigarettes, according to The New York Times. The vote comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prepares to issue regulations for the devices.

The FDA was expected to issue regulations by the end of October, but they may be delayed by the partial government shutdown, the article notes.

While the European Parliament exempted e cigarettes from heavy regulation, it did impose tight restrictions on advertising and sponsorship. The devices cannot be sold legally to anyone under age 18. The legislation does not address where e cigarettes can be used.

The Parliament also banned conventional cigarettes with menthol flavoring. That measure will take effect in eight years. The legislators voted to require cigarette packs to carry health warnings in pictures and text that covers 65 percent of the packages. Currently the warnings cover 40 percent of cigarette packages.

In the United States, makers of e cigarettes are lobbying the FDA to regulate their products less strictly than traditional cigarettes. The FDA has authority to regulate cigarettes, cigarette tobacco and roll your own tobacco, but not e cigarettes, pipe tobacco or cigars. Under a 2009 law, the FDA can expand its authority over all tobacco products, but it must first issue new regulations. The agency could restrict how e cigarettes are marketed, where they are sold and who can purchase them.

The makers of Marlboro, Newport and Camel cigarettes have entered the e cigarette market, which is projected to approach $2 billion this year. The companies hope to avoid the type of heavy regulation currently governing the traditional cigarette market.

Last month, the attorneys general of 41 states asked the FDA to issue regulations for e cigarettes by the end of October. They said they want to ensure e cigarette companies do not continue to sell or advertise to minors.

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Tobacco-specific nitrosamines in europ… [arch geschwulstforsch. 1990] – pubmed – ncbi

Winston cigarettes ===> jordan – ?????????

More than 170 types of commercial cigarettes from several European countries and the USA were analyzed for tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNA) in tobacco and mainstream smoke as well as for nitrate in tobacco. The cigarettes included filter and nonfilter cigarettes with different tar and nicotine yields. The observed range for N’ nitrosonornicotine (NNN) was from 4 to 1353 ng/cigarette in mainstream smoke and from 45 to 12454 ng/cigarette in tobacco. For 4 (methylnitrosamino) 1 (3 pyridyl) 1 butanone (NNK) the values were between not detected (less than 4 ng/cigarette) and 1749 ng/cigarette in mainstream smoke and between not detected (less than 50 ng/cigarette) and 10745 ng/cigarette in tobacco. Nitrate levels ranged from 0.6 to 19.4 mg/cigarette. The TSNA levels for the cigarettes from the different countries investigated were in a similar range with the exception of few individual brands. The results demonstrated that there is no correlation between TSNA and tar deliveries in mainstream smoke. The TSNA deliveries in mainstream smoke depend on the amount or preformed TSNA in the actual tobacco composition, which is influenced by the nitrate level of the tobacco and the tobacco type. According to these results the tar delivery, although crucial, is not a sufficient index for the biological activity and the carcinogenic potential of cigarette smoke. Reduction of TSNA exposure can be achieved by selecting tobaccos with low levels of preformed TSNA in tobacco, which means a low nitrate content and reduction of the amount of Burley tobaccos and stems in blended cigarettes.