Safety of e-cigarettes questioned

Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes enjoy popularity here as a trendy and perhaps healthier alternative. / Korea Times By Kim Tae-jong Quitting smoking is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions and many smokers are always in search of an effective way to help kick the habit of lighting up for good. Amid the flood of substitutes for tobacco cigarettes, electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes are drawing popularity here as a trendy and perhaps healthier alternative. Yet their safety and effectiveness remain unclear and controversial. While there are different types of e-cigarettes, the most common type takes the form of a tiny rod that is slightly longer than a normal cigarette and uses battery-generated heat to vaporize nicotine along with other chemicals present in a cartridge. E-cigarettes are selling like hot cakes, with the combined sales growing threefold in 2010 from a year earlier. “I’ve tried many times to quit smoking, but it’s hard to kick the habit with only my willpower,” said Kwon Young-jin, a 35-year-old office worker. “I started smoking e-cigarettes recently and hope it will help this time.” The surge in demand has consequently puffed up the market and e-cigarette companies are competing to run ads for their products, boasting that they are much safer than traditional tobacco. Prices of e-cigarette devices range from 100,000 won ($120) to 150,000 won, with smokers having to spend extra money for nicotine cartridges or non-nicotine vaporized solution on a regular basis. “Our product provides the sensation similar to smoking without the strong odor of cigarette smoke and ashes, and most importantly, it’s not harmful to smokers and the people around them,” one Internet advertisement reads. But many anti-smoking organizations point out that such ads contain “false or unproven” information, warning that their health effects have yet to be examined or determined properly. “All the commercials are misleading people to believe that they are really an effective substitute, which is not true,” said Choi Chang-mok, head of non-governmental group the Korea Anti-smoke Research Institute. “The reality is e-cigarettes are nothing but harmful electronic cigarettes and may contain unknown toxic chemicals and can lead people to form another addiction.” He also warned that various side effects have been reported such as headaches, nausea and loss of appetite from those who used e-cigarettes. Regulations on e-cigarettes The main problem surrounding the debate over the safety of e-cigarettes is the lack of proper regulations. The related ministries have belatedly reached a decision on the categorization of e-cigarettes — e-cigarettes are classified into two main types: one with nicotine and the other with non-nicotine vaporized solution. “We have concluded that those with nicotine should be regarded as conventional cigarettes as they are also addictive and harmful to the body,” said Lee Seon-kui, a deputy director at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “Now we’re trying to keep up with the latest device by implementing necessary regulations and taxation.” E-cigarette products without nicotine are regulated by the Korea Food and Drug Administration as a cessation aid, while the e-cigarette product with nicotine is regulated by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance just like traditional cigarettes. While the related ministries were dragging their feet on the classification of e-cigarettes, a lot of unlicensed companies took advantage of the delay and imported products and sold them online even to teenagers. All the damage from the low-quality or the lack of follow-up services has fallen on customers and proper compensation for faulty products were difficult to get. Experts take a skeptical stance on the safety or effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a stop-smoking aid, regardless whether they are licensed products or not. “I think the bottom line is, we just don’t know whether they are effective or safe, and we don’t know because there is no research done to prove it while there are a range of different products already out on the market,” said Lim Min-kyung, head of the Cancer Information Center, which operates a call center for smokers. “I can’t say smokers should or shouldn’t buy e-cigarettes but I’d rather say they should be more careful at least for now.” 전자 담배 안전성에 대한 논란 뜨겁다 금연은 가장 흔한 새해 소망 중에 하나이고 흡연가들은 항상 효과적인 금연 보조제에 관해 관심이 많다. 금연 보조제 중에서, 전자 담배가 인기를 끌고 있지만, 그 안전성과 효과는 불명확하며 논란은 여전하다. 전자 담배 시장이 커지면서, 많은 업체들은 경쟁적으로 상품 광고를 쏟아내고 있으며, 금연 운동 기관들은 그 중 많은 경우 “입증되지 않은 혹은 거짓” 정보로 소비자를 현혹하는 경우가 있다고 경고하며, 전자 담배 또한 중독의 가능성이 높고 건강에 해로울 수 있다는 주장을 한다. 가장 큰 문제는 적절한 규제가 이루어 지지 않고 있다는 점이다. 관계 부처에서는 전제 담배에 대한 규정을 뒤늦게야 처리했고, 그 사이 검증되지 않은 제품들이 시장에 나와 소비자들에게 피해를 주는 경우가 많다. 현재 전자 담배는, 니코틴이 포함되지 않은 경우 금연 보조제로 식약청의 관리 감독을 받는 반면, 니코틴이 포함된 경우는 재경부에서 기존의 담배와 마찬가지로 관리되고 있다. 전문가들은 현재 전자 담배에 관해 다소 비판적인 시각을 갖고 있으며, 이는 전자 담배와 건강에 관한 연구가 부족하기 때문이다. 그들은 전자 담배의 구입시 신중한 판단이 필요하다고 조언하고 있다.

e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr