Tobacco Asia

38 tobaccoasia / Issue 1, 2017 March / April Controversy about safety of e-cigs A report on tobacco prevalence in Suzhou City in 2015 indicates that 47.6% of the respondents had heard of electronic cigarettes; but only 1.6% used them; and 81.8% did not believe that they were much less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Visiting an e-cigarette experience store, a reporter with TobaccoChina Online randomly picked up a bottle of e-liquid and the contents were nicotine at 6mg/30ml or 3mg/30ml, which is equivalent to 0.2 mg or 0.1 mg per milliliter. A 30ml bottle of tobacco e-liquid lasts for about one week on average, and comes in tea, mint, fruit, cake, tobacco, and other flavors. Then, the question arises: are e-liquids injurious to health? And do doctors understand the smoking cessation claims that manufacturers of e-cigarettes make? TobaccoChina Online discovered that doctors at the several major hospitals in Suzhou City gener- ally do not know much about e-cigarettes, and that there are some doctors who have reservations about the alleged smoking cessation function. "The existing clinical guide to smoking cessation does not recommend electronic cigarettes as a means of smoking abstention," said one doctor there. "Therefore, my smoking cessation clinic never proposes that smokers use electronic cigarettes instead." She said that she has never heard of anyone successful in giving up smoking by means of using electronic cigarettes. Another doctor with the hospital pointed out that most e-liquids contain nicotine, and therefore may be addictive, and that nicotine is one of the "known harmful substances" from cigarette smoking. The effects of inhalation are now yet known. Chinese e-cigarette companies exported nearly 300 million units to Europe and the US, but their sales to the domestic market account for less than 10% of that. Kimree's Liu said, "Over 90% of our sales go to markets abroad, and our domestic market sales only account for some 5% of the total. And, as far as I know, such is also the case for other electronic cigarette manufacturers in China." In 2015, there were more than 800 e-cigarette companies in China. By the end of October, there were few more than 300 left, and this figure will keep falling. A major cause for this decline is the negative impact of domestic economic development. After the implementation of the relevant regulations by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Tobacco Product Directive by the European Union, all electronic cigarette products for export to the US and the European Union must be in compliance with the new requirements for market access there. Only after winning the relevant certification can they be permitted to enter the marketplace. Small makers without the required qualification, are closing out. Meanwhile, large manufacturers with technological and funding advantages, now enjoy favorable opportunities for rapid business development, and can use their advantages to take greater market share. The development of e-cigarettes in China is still in an initial stage, and there is a lack of compre- hensive understanding and recognition of the product by consumers. Moreover, present users are neither ideal smokers nor the mainstream part of the population. Therefore, development of this segment will only cast a slight impact on the traditional tobacco industry. Yet, the development of any matter will follow a progressive course, and anything new will be an evolution from what is non- mainstream to what is mainstream. Only when social elites and white collar people in China generally accept e-cigarettes will the traditional tobacco industry realistically feel a threat. Therefore, at least in the next two to three years, electronic cigarettes will not generate substantial impact. E-cigarettes are fashionable with young people

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