Are e-cigarettes safer than regular cigarettes? Determination of the harmfulness of e-cigarettes

Are e-cigarettes harmful? 3 points of contention

On the 7th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) announced the results of the analysis of the hazards of cigarette-type e-cigarettes. The main findings are that "more tar was detected in cigarette-type e-cigarettes than in regular cigarettes."

The three products analyzed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety are Philip Morris (PM)'s IQOS (Amber), British American Tobacco's (BAT)'s Glo (Bright Tobacco), and KT&G's Reel (Change). The controversy between the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and e-cigarette manufacturers continues. Let's take a look at three points of controversy between the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and e-cigarette companies over e-cigarettes.

First, the fact that a lot of tar has been detected is a question of whether or not it is a measure of harmfulness.

First of all, the definition of tar is the same as that of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the e-cigarette companies. It is "a complex of substances except nicotine and water from particulate matter emitted from cigarettes." The controversy was sparked by the fact that it was not known exactly what the tar was made of.

As a result of the analysis, the average content of tar per cigarette (ISO method) is IQOS·Glo·In Lille, it was analyzed that they were 9.3 mg, 4.8 mg, and 9.1 mg, respectively. This is higher than the tar content of regular cigarettes (0.1~8.0mg) that are widely distributed in the market. It was 1.5 times different from the tar content of 5 regular cigarettes sold in Korea (4.3~5.8mg).

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, "The fact that the tar content of cigarette-type e-cigarettes was detected to be higher than that of regular cigarettes indicates that e-cigarettes may contain harmful substances that have not yet been identified." In a situation where it is not known what harmful substances are in the tar, more tar means that there may be harmful substances in e-cigarettes that are not found in regular cigarettes.

However, BAT Korea, the producer of e-cigarette Glo, said in a telephone interview with Biondu that "tar is not a concept that can be considered as harmless."In a situation where it is not known exactly what the composition of tar is, it is not possible to conclude that it is vaguely harmful. Philip Morris expressed a similar opinion. A Philip Morris spokesperson said, "Just as there is a perception that low-tar cigarettes are less harmful than high-tar cigarettes, which is not true, the amount of tar is not a basis for determining the harmfulness of cigarettes. Even the WHO has stated that tar is not a solid basis for tobacco control."

Second, there is the problem of 'different points of emphasis even with the same analysis'.

The Food and Drug Administration says e-cigarettes are just as harmful to health as regular cigarettes. "It has been confirmed that cigarette-type e-cigarettes also contain human carcinogens such as benzopyrene and benzene, and cigarette-type e-cigarettes can cause various diseases such as cancer just like regular cigarettes," it warns.

However, Philip Morris Korea maintains that the human carcinogens contained in e-cigarettes are less harmful than those of regular cigarettes. He said that it has been proven that the amount of six ingredients, including benzopyrene and formaldehyde, which are classified as human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, out of the nine ingredients recommended by the WHO for reduction, is lower than that of regular cigarettes. "Even though the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has proven that the actual carcinogen content of e-cigarettes is lower than that of regular cigarettes, nicotine·The high tar content emphasizes the danger." The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved simple nicotine·It is a complaint that the focus is on the tar content, and the results of the study that the actual carcinogen content is low are hidden.

Third, whether the results of this survey can be trusted.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has used the best methods currently available to determine the harmfulness of cigarettes, and the results of the investigation are based on basic reliability that have been recognized by relevant experts. Since there is no internationally recognized analysis method for cigarette-type e-cigarettes, the ISO method and the HC (Health Canada) method, which are internationally recognized analysis methods for regular cigarettes, were applied to the e-cigarettes and analyzed.

So far, the governments of Japan, China, and Germany, which have analyzed e-cigarettes, have also used the same method, the ISO method or the HC method. In 2011, 20 laboratories from 12 countries, including the United States, China, Germany, and South Korea, participated in the international joint research on standard cigarettes organized by the World Tobacco Association.

However, e-cigarette sellers say that "it is difficult to simply compare regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes because it is not necessary to measure harmful substances by steaming." BAT Korea claims, "Smoke is emitted during the combustion process of regular cigarettes, and e-cigarettes are emitted in a different way because the vapor is released by steaming, so they cannot be compared."

Philip Morris Korea also claimed in its official position that "the MFDS's assessment of the tar content of cigarette-type e-cigarettes and comparing their harmfulness with regular cigarettes based on this is wrong."The vapor of e-cigarettes and the smoke of regular cigarettes are qualitatively different in composition, so it is not appropriate to simply compare the total amount of emissions," he said, adding, "This is similar to simply comparing the total amount of emissions without comparing the exhaust gases of diesel cars with the pollutants of exhaust gases generated by hydrogen cars."

Lastly, the conclusion of Biondu is that "it is true that e-cigarettes contain fewer of the six ingredients that are defined as class 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer than regular cigarettes, but the cigarette-type e-cigarettes that entered Korea last year have not been introduced for a long time, so their harm to the human body has not yet been sufficiently proven."As the controversy over its harmfulness is still ongoing, consumers should think of e-cigarettes as an alternative to regular cigarettes or as another option.