HEALTH-BRITAIN/E-CIGARETTES E-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco - UK study
Record ID:
142865
HEALTH-BRITAIN/E-CIGARETTES E-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco - UK study
- Title: HEALTH-BRITAIN/E-CIGARETTES E-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than tobacco - UK study
- Date: 19th August 2015
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (AUGUST 19, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF SHOP VARIOUS OF E-CIGARETTE PRODUCTS IN SHOP WINDOW MAN SMOKING E-CIGARETTE / ANOTHER MAN SMOKING CONVENTIONAL CIGARETTE
- Embargoed: 3rd September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVABKOBDR7J47PMMIKLSQ5LJWMW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Electronic cigarettes are around 95 percent less harmful than tobacco and should be promoted as a tool to help smokers quit, a study by an agency of Britain's Department of Health said on Wednesday (August 19).
E-cigarettes, tobacco-free devices people use to inhale nicotine-laced vapour, have surged in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic but health organisations have so far been wary of advocating them as a safer alternative to tobacco and governments from California to India have tried to introduce bills to regulate their use more strictly.
Professor Kevin Fenton from Public Health England, which carried out the study, said e-cigarettes carry only a 'fraction' of the harm associated with conventional smoking.
He added that while the results of the study were very clear, experts will continue to gather evidence in order to understand the longer term impact of e-cigarette use.
"Well, the data are very clear that certainly for short and medium term use, we see significantly less harm than cigarette smoking. In fact, the estimates which have been done by a variety of experts suggest that e-cigarettes are significantly less, about 95 per cent less harmful than smoking. Now, as time progresses we're going to accumulate more evidence and more data both on the use of e-cigarettes and their impacts. So we'll be able to update our estimates in terms of the long term use. But for the short and medium term as an aid to help people to quit, we certainly want to see more people embarking on that journey," he said.
Passive inhalation from an e-cigarette was also found to be much less harmful.
The publicly-funded study goes against a 2014 report by the World Health Organization that called for stiff regulation of e-cigarettes and bans on their indoor use and sale to minors.
It also contradicts the finding of another study by researchers from the University of Southern California which said this week that U.S. teens who tried electronic cigarettes might be more than twice as likely to move on to smoking conventional cigarettes as those who have never tried the devices.
Professor Ann McNeil, who helped author the study, said that there was no evidence that e-cigarettes can cause cancer, adding that one study showed an improvement in the health of those with asthma when they switched from smoking to 'vaping'.
McNeil also advocated the use of e-cigarettes as a means of quitting smoking.
"We haven't seen any health risks yet, there are some possible ones if they use them for long term, so what we're encouraging cigarette smokers to do is if they've tried other things to stop and haven't succeeded, try e-cigarettes," she said.
The Public Health England study said e-cigarettes, which are already the most popular quitting aids in Britain and the United States, could be a cheap way to reduce smoking in deprived areas where there remains a high proportion of smokers.
However, on the streets of London, not all smokers were keen to on the idea of switching to e-cigarettes.
"You know, I prefer the real thing and I'm happy with it," said one man, "I know I ought to give up, but it's one thing knowing and another thing doing."
Almost all of the 2.6 million adults using e-cigarettes in Britain are current or ex-smokers who are using the devices to help them quit and only 2 percent of young people are regular users, the study said.
Tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco (BAT) have viewed e-cigarettes as a solution to declining sales in Britain and the United States and have bought makers of the metal devices.
Calling the study an "incredibly important milestone", a BAT spokesman acknowledged the risk posed by chemicals found in cigarette smoke and said increasing sales of e-cigarettes would greatly benefit their customers' health. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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