As electronic cigarettes straddle the line between legal and illegal, Health Canada is trying to find out exactly how many of these devices are being sold.

Ottawa is about to spend up to $230,000 to study how many electronic cigarettes have been sold over the past two years as well as current monthly totals.

Electronic cigarettes are surging in popularity but exist in a legal grey zone. They can be sold if they release vapour but not nicotine. They also cannot be advertised as a healthy alternative to cigarettes.

But the devices can be sold with vapour cartridges that are easily swapped out for nicotine, and demand is booming.

I ve had (customers say) everything from you ve saved my lungs to you ve saved my marriage, said Phil Ralph, employee of the downtown Ottawa retailer e Steam.

The company is two years old but has expanded to 14 locations in Ontario. Buyers can purchase an electronic cigarette kit, starting around $80 and ranging up to hundreds of dollars.

Each device comes with a vapour cartridge. Vials of up to 24 milligrams of nicotine can be bought separately.

Ralph is himself a 12 year smoker who tried and failed several times to quit, but is now onto e cigarettes.

I haven t had a cigarette in over three months. The switch was seamless, he said.

But anti smoking groups have called for tighter restrictions on e cigarettes. The Canadian Lung Association called them gimmicky, unproven methods and urged smokers to use other methods.

The government has mostly followed suit.

To date there is not sufficient evidence that the potential benefits of e cigarettes in helping Canadians to quit smoking outweigh the potential risks, says a statement from Health Canada.

Without scientific evidence, Health Canada continues to advise Canadians against the use of these products.

Ottawa is now paying an outside company to sort out how many smoking cessation aids are being sold.

AC Nielsen of St. Laurent, Que., has been pegged for a $133,000 contract to study retail sales of electronic cigarettes and non pharmaceutical nicotine replacement therapy products.

Health Canada wants to know how many have been sold in the past two years, plus ongoing monthly reports. The contract runs through all of fiscal 2014 2015, but can be renewed for a second year for $100,000.

The office of Health Minister Rona Ambrose isn t saying if the research could be used to craft new legislation.

I don t have any further info for you at this point, said spokesman Michael Bolkenius.

Bolkenius said Health Canada is currently sending out letters to e cigarette vendors to bring them into compliance with the laws.

He said e cigarette manufacturers would need to make the scientific case that the benefits of their products outweigh the harms. He said no companies have so far applied to have their products authorized.

E-cigarettes: new evidence on thirdhand smoke risk – medical news today

Scientists from the Roswell Cancer Park Institute in Buffalo, NY, have announced the findings of two studies respectively looking at evidence on “thirdhand” exposure to nicotine from e cigarettes and the accuracy of e cigarette product labels.

Sales of e cigarettes (“electronic cigarettes”) where nicotine and other cigarette associated substances are inhaled in a vapor through a battery operated device have doubled each year since 2008 in the US. E cigarettes are not currently regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Over the past couple of years, various studies have analyzed to what extent e cigarettes may or may not be harmful to both the smoker and other people.

Medical News Today reported on a 2012 study finding that, although e cigarettes contribute less to indoor air pollution than traditional tobacco cigarettes, they are “not entirely emission free,” and so bystanders may be exposed to the released vapor.

That study also criticized the labeling of e cigarettes, commenting that the inadequate or vague information on the content of the products made it difficult for smokers to know the potential dangers of the contained substances.

E cigarettes and thirdhand smoke risk

Examining the issue of bystanders’ exposure to nicotine from e cigarettes, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RCPI) researchers studied the extent to which e cigarettes left a nicotine residue on indoor surfaces. This residue is often referred to as “thirdhand smoke.”

To do this, the scientists vaporized the contents of three different brands of e cigarette inside a special chamber. The floors, walls, windows, wood and metal surfaces of the chamber were then individually checked for nicotine levels.

In three out of four of these experiments, the researchers found varying but significant increases in nicotine residue, with the floor and windows of the chamber retaining the highest amounts of residue.

How accurate is the product labeling of e cigarettes?

The second study from the RCPI team assessed how accurate the product labeling of e cigarettes is. The researchers analyzed the contents of 32 e cigarette refill solutions and compared their findings with the claims made by the product manufacturers in their labeling information.

In e cigarettes, nicotine and other substances are inhaled in a vapor through a battery operated device.

They found that the nicotine concentration of 1 in 4 products differed by more than 20% from what the amounts advertised on their labels. Nicotine was also found in some refill solutions that were labeled as being nicotine free.

“Research conducted by Roswell Park scientists provides a valuable contribution and insight into the content and marketing of e cigarettes,” says Andrew Hyland, PhD, chair of RPCI’s Department of Health Behavior.

“This science can inform health policy organizations as they determine e cigarette regulations, which can and should include smoke free policies and standards for accurate labeling,” he adds.

“The public health community agrees that more scientific inquiry is needed to understand the potential health impact of e cigarettes,” adds Dr. Maciej Goniewicz, who presented the findings of both studies at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco on February 8th, 2014.

Dr. Goniewicz adds

“These studies add to the growing body of scientific evidence that will help to define and delineate a product that is broadly used indoors and is advertised and sold without restrictions.”

Written by David McNamee

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