It almost seems like e-cigs are already outlawed with all the restrictions put in place by that country’s Health Ministry. The latest bill being considered would “…prohibit the production, import, marketing, and advertising of electronic cigarettes and related products across the country.”
This article from E-Cig Advanced explains what may be motivating Israeli officials:
In addition to citing chemicals in the devices as a danger to public health, the ministry hammered on the death of a toddler which occurred one year ago in the country. Presumably, the toddler passed away after ingesting an undisclosed amount of nicotine liquid designed for used in electronic cigarettes. Tragic as this incident was, can we really blame the product?
This isn’t the first proposal to restrict e-smoking and vapor cigarettes in Israel. Smoking in general is big – 1 in 5 Israelis and 2 in 5 Arabs smoke. And while there are laws about smoking in public, they aren’t really enforced. Even if a ban like this were put on the books, it’s unclear as to whether it will be enforced.
Be that as it may, one quote that really threw us for a loop was this statement from Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev, a consultant with the Israel Cancer Association.
One of the problems with electronic cigarettes is that there is no supervision of the production and you cannot rely on what the manufacturers write about the product. There were products claiming they had no nicotine, but testing revealed that there was nicotine in them. The central material in any electronic cigarette is ethylene glycol [emphasis added] which is potentially harmful when inhaled into the lungs,”
Vapor cigarettes contain propylene glycol, not ethylene glycol – there’s a big difference. If officials are making decisions based on Dr. Zeev’s advice and other inaccurate facts, it’s no wonder they’re considering a full ban.
Yes, ethylene glycol is quite dangerous, but e-cigs do not contain that substance, they contain propylene glycol, which found in everything to inhalers and fog machines to many foods. It is also found in antifreeze, which is the source of Dr. Zeev’s misguided statement.
Once upon a time, antifreeze did contain ethylene glycol. The sweet smell would attract pets and small kids, which led to many tragic poisonings. Eventually, the EG was replaced with the much safer PG.
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