Regulate E-Cigarettes, Cancer Specialists and Researchers Urge

Two organizations representing cancer researchers and specialists are calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring e-cigarette regulations more in line with those of traditional cigarettes.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) issued the recommendations jointly.

The groups called for e-cigarette makers to give the FDA a full list of their products’ ingredients, HealthDay reports. They want warning labels on all e-cigarette packaging and ads to tell consumers about the dangers of nicotine addiction. They also are asking for a ban on all marketing and selling of e-cigarettes to minors. They want the FDA to require childproof caps on containers for liquid nicotine used for e-cigarettes.

Tax revenues from traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes should be used for research into the question of whether e-cigarettes can help people quit smoking traditional cigarettes, the groups say. Research is also needed on potential health hazards of e-cigarettes, they add.

“We are concerned that e-cigarettes may encourage nonsmokers, particularly children, to start smoking and develop nicotine addiction,” ASCO President Dr. Peter Paul Yu said in a news release. “While e-cigarettes may reduce smoking rates and attendant adverse health risks, we will not know for sure until these products are researched and regulated.”

Last summer a group of leading lung health organizations urged governments to ban or limit the use of e-cigarettes until more is known about the devices’ health effects.