The FDA is required to maintain a list of “Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents” (HPHC) in tobacco products. The original list was released in 2012 and was mostly toxicants in cigarette and other tobacco smoke and smokeless tobacco. In particular, this list did not include important compounds in e-cigarettes and other “new” tobacco products. InContinue reading “FDA adds 18 chemicals to list of harmful constituents in tobacco products, including propelyene glycol and vegetable glycerine”
Tag Archives: health
Evidence that ecigs are a gateway to smoking and promote relapse in former smokers keeps piling up
Jagdish Kaur from WHO and several colleagues from India’s new paper “E-cigarette use and subsequent tobacco smoking initiation: an umbrella review with Bayesian model meta-analysis” provides the most comprehensive summary of evidence that e-cigarettes promote cigarette smoking in nonsmokers available to date. They also show that e-cigarette use in former smokers promotes relapse to smoking.Continue reading “Evidence that ecigs are a gateway to smoking and promote relapse in former smokers keeps piling up”
Nicotine pouches maintain the nicotine market for tobacco companies
Nicotine pouches (like ZYN and on!) are being touted by some advocates as a “harm reduction” alternative to smoking cigarettes. Kelvin Choi and colleagues examined whether this happens in real life in their new paper “Patterns of tobacco product use among US adults who use nicotine pouches and the association between nicotine pouch use andContinue reading “Nicotine pouches maintain the nicotine market for tobacco companies”
Broad evidence implicates e-cigarettes as a cause of cancer
Bernard Stewart and colleagues from Australia just published “The carcinogenicity of e-cigarettes: a qualitative risk assessment” in Carcinogenesis. This review (summary) of the literature cites 116 papers, 15 of which were published in 2025. The fact that so many of the citations are recent is important because the evidence on the health risks of e-cigarettesContinue reading “Broad evidence implicates e-cigarettes as a cause of cancer”
California’s “Unflavored Tobacco List” will improve compliance with and enforcement of flavored tobacco ban
Last year California passed AB 3218 to tighten up and simplify compliance with and enforcement of California’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. Part of this was to have the Attorney General establish and maintain an Unflavored Tobacco List (UTL) that included those tobacco products that could be sold legally in California. toContinue reading “California’s “Unflavored Tobacco List” will improve compliance with and enforcement of flavored tobacco ban”
E-cigarettes are nearly as risky as cigarettes; dual use is worse: The evidence continues to pile up
Using e-cigarettes (vaping) has been promoted as a much safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. However, a new head-to-head comparison of actual disease in e-cigarette users compared to cigarette smokers published in Public Health Reports shows that this assertion is wrong. This new analysis of 124 studies on the association of e-cigarette use with disease outcomesContinue reading “E-cigarettes are nearly as risky as cigarettes; dual use is worse: The evidence continues to pile up”
What the BAT chief scientist had to say about causality half a century ago
E-cigarette advocates, global warming deniers and social media companies continue to sidestep the implications of research showing dangers of their products by, among other things, retreating behind the high walls of claims that the evidence is not “causal.” To put these claims in context, it is worth re-reading the last couple paragraphs from our bookContinue reading “What the BAT chief scientist had to say about causality half a century ago”
Spinola et al support Brazil’s e-cigarette ban while defending implementation criticism
Shortly before the 11th WHO Framework Convention On Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties in November 2025, Vitoria Borges Spinola, Lucas Porto Santos, Hamilton Roschel, Bruno Gualano, and Megan E. Roberts published “Weak enforcement of Brazil’s E-cigarette ban and the expansion of a dangerous illicit market” in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas arguing thatContinue reading “Spinola et al support Brazil’s e-cigarette ban while defending implementation criticism”
FDA broke the law when it did not allow TPSAC to vote on whether to allow PMI to make modified risk claims for ZYN
The FDA held a meeting of its Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) on January 22, 2026 to discuss Swedish Match’s application to make the modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) claim for its ZYN flavored nicotine pouches “Using ZYN instead of cigarettes puts you at a lower risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer,Continue reading “FDA broke the law when it did not allow TPSAC to vote on whether to allow PMI to make modified risk claims for ZYN”
The gateway has two doors in England, too
With some notable exceptions. e-cigarettes have been embraced by British tobacco control advocates and public health authorities more enthusiastically than anywhere else in the world, including authorities at Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and University College London (UCL). Now, Emily Banks, Andrew Bush, Charlotta Pisinger, and Sam Egger have published Signs of increased smokingContinue reading “The gateway has two doors in England, too”
Stanton Glantz blog 