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The best portable vaporizer
By Mark Smirniotis This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here. Over the last three years, we've considered 46 vaporizers and tested 19, interviewed expert reviewers, and dug through enthusiast forums, and we recommend the AirVape X as best portable vaporizer for most people. It's easier to use than any of the competition, whether loading it, adjusting temperatures, or cleaning it. Its smooth vapor provided tasty flavors that had us reaching for it again and again.
Study says e-cigarettes increase risk of cancer and heart disease
Regulators may have had a change of heart about the danger of using e-cigarettes, but scientists would beg to differ. A newly published New York University School of Medicine study indicates that vaping may put you at a "higher risk" of cancer and heart disease. Mice subjected to the equivalent of "light" e-cigarette smoking for 10 years (12 weeks in reality) suffered DNA damage to their bladders, hearts and lungs, in addition to limiting both DNA repair and lung proteins. In short: nicotine can become a carcinogen in your body regardless of how it's transmitted.
The FDA has a significant change of heart about e-cigarettes
The FDA has just announced a sweeping change in its policy regarding e-cigarettes and vaping products. In a press release issued this morning, the administration outlined its plan to focus on reducing usage of combustible cigarettes and tobacco, in turn loosening restrictive rules laid out just last year, that could have wiped out most vaping products ("eliquid").
UK health body: Don’t treat vaping like smoking
Public Health England has recommended a lighter approach to e-cigarette rules and regulations in order to support vaping as a means of quitting regular cancer sticks. The body has published its new Tobacco Control Plan, which sets out the various ways it will help people kick the habit, with one of the primary goals to reduce the number of adults in England who smoke from 15.5 percent to 12 percent or less by 2022. Data would suggest e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful than normal smokes in the long-term, leading Public Health England to recommend we don't create barriers that stop people making the switch.
The UK’s new vaping laws explained
From today, vaping gear sold in the UK must adhere to a new set of specific guidelines. That's because last year, the EU updated its regulations covering tobacco products to include e-cigarettes and e-liquids for the first time. When these first came into effect, almost all types of e-cig advertisements were immediately banned, given they effectively promote the consumption of nicotine, an addictive substance. And now, exactly one year later, the rules that actually impact what vaping products are legally eligible for sale have come into force.
US Navy bans e-cigarettes on every ship in the fleet
Last year, the FDA finally started regulating e-cigarettes and swiftly ruled to keep them out of checked baggage on flights. Incidental reports that some had caught on fire led regulators to restrict them to carry-ons lest they ignite in midair. It seems the US Navy won't even take that chance, as the branch just banned e-cigarettes across the entire fleet.
Teens love vaping, much to the Surgeon General's horror
We know that smoking is bad for you, which is why so many people have switched across to vaping as a (theoretically) safer alternative. But that hasn't stopped the Surgeon General from objecting to the rise in e-cigarette use, especially amongst young people. Dr. Vivek Murthy has posted a report saying that the devices are a public health issue because they're not a cure for the real problem of nicotine addition.
Philip Morris submits a tobacco vaporizer for FDA approval
Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, submitted an application to the FDA on Tuesday seeking approval for its new tobacco vaporizer. The iQOS device, as it's currently called, works on the same principle as the Pax, wherein the ground plant matter is gently heated until the active ingredients are vaporized, rather than burned with an open flame. Philip Morris claims that the vapor has 90 percent fewer harmful chemicals than normal cigarette smoke.
Starting today, it will be a lot harder to vape if you're under 18
In May, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans to regulate e-cigarettes like it does regular tobacco products. Today, those changes go into effect. First, the new regulations make it illegal to sell e-cigarettes and other vaping supplies to anyone under the age of 18. As we reported when the FDA first revealed its plans, the age limit was already being enforced in some places, but now it's the rule nationwide. Retailers will be required to ask for identification from any customer who appears to be under the age of 27 and are prohibited from providing free samples to minors.
Study identifies two new carcinogens in e-cigarette vapor
Most people won't dispute the claim that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional smokes, but evidence is rapidly mounting that vaping isn't exactly good for you, either. Numerous studies have found toxic chemicals and carcinogens in e-cigarette vapor -- but a new study shows that the age, type and temperature of the vaporizer can effect just how toxic its emissions are. Researchers have also identified two previously unreported cancer-causing chemicals present in most e-cigarette liquid.
FDA will regulate e-cigarettes like tobacco products
As the debate over the health risks of e-cigarettes rages on, the FDA is stepping in to "improve public health and protect future generations." To do that, the US government will regulate e-cigs and vaping gear like it does any other tobacco product. Until now, these products haven't been subject to government oversight. With the FDA's changes, the federal law that already forbids tobacco sales to people under 18 will now apply to vaping as well. Sure, this age limit was already being enforced in some places, but this more formal announcement makes it a nation-wide law.
EU court upholds new rules that ban e-cigarette advertising
E-cigarettes received one of their biggest endorsements to date last week, with the UK's Royal College of Physicians vouching for their safety and recommending smokers be encouraged to make the switch. Any celebrations within the vaping industry will have been short-lived, though, as yesterday the EU's Court of Justice cleared new legislation that puts e-cigarettes under similar regulatory pressures as your traditional cancer sticks. Many of the rules are simply to ensure product quality, but the biggest blow to manufacturers will undoubtedly be a broad ban on advertising and other promotional activity.
UK doctors say smokers should be encouraged to use e-cigarettes
If the British public needed reassurance that e-cigarettes are healthier than traditional smoking, a new report from Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has done just that. In a 200-page document, leading UK doctors have moved to quash the "increasingly common misconception" that vaping is dangerous and said that smokers should be "reassured and encouraged" to switch to e-cigarettes.
E-cigarette ads are encouraging teen vapers, CDC finds
Surprise! The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found a link between the popularity of vaping and e-cigarette advertising. In short, a greater exposure to vape-related ads increases the likelihood that a young person will pick up the habit. The findings are based on a questionnaire answered by 22,000 middle and high school students in the US. The responses were collected in 2014, so the situation might have evolved since then, but it shows a clear correlation between vaping and the volume of advertising found online, in print, on TV and in stores.
Millions of kids used e-cigarettes last year
Stephen Dorff is apparently more influential than we all thought -- if the youth of America even know who he is. Last year 3 million middle-schoolers and high-school students used e-cigarettes as their preferred method of tobacco delivery, according to a report by the Center for Disease Control. The CDC says that this carries over from 2014, where e-cigs were the most used tobacco product among those surveyed. In 2011, e-cigs represented 1.5 percent of overall tobacco use among that population and in 2015 the number skyrocketed to 16 percent. That's despite cigarette and cigar usage dropping during the same period. So yeah, kids really like battery-powered smokes.
Don't even think about vaping on a plane
There are a number of public places where smoking is banned but the use of e-cigarettes is not. Well, you can take commercial flights off of that list. The US Department of Transportation banned the use of the smoking devices on planes that are leaving from or coming to the States. In other words, the no smoking rule that was already in place for tobacco products was expanded to include electronic cigarettes as well.
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UK health agency approves first e-cig for clinical use
The long-term effects of vaping won't be known for some time, but despite some cautionary advice and unsettling research into flavourings, the general consensus is e-cigarettes are better for you than the real thing. Many smokers have turned to vaping to help kick (or at least transfer) their habit, and with this in mind, the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recently approved an e-cigarette for clinical use for the first time.
Most e-cigarettes have chemicals that will hurt your lungs
Electronic cigarettes are ostensibly safer for you than conventional cigs (you're not inhaling tar and other elements of tobacco smoke), but it now looks like they might not be much better at all. Researchers have found that 75 percent of flavored e-cigs contain diacetyl, a flavoring chemical that can produce "popcorn lung" disease when inhaled over the long term. To boot, many of the tested flavors had other related chemicals (like 2,3-pentanedione and acetoin) on top of known risky ingredients, such as formaldehyde.
Pax is bringing its vaporizer to Europe
Pax sells some of the best loose-leaf vaporizers -- and proprietary e-cig systems -- on the market. Over the past five years, though, its products have only officially been available in North America. Today, the San Francisco startup is branching out into Europe, beginning with the UK and Germany. But not all of its products are making the journey across the Atlantic yet.
UK research finds vaping is 95 percent safer than smoking
Vaping just took a huge step forward in its quest for public acceptance. A report published today by Public Health England (PHE), an agency sponsored by the UK's Department for Health, has concluded that e-cigarettes are 95 percent less harmful than traditional smokes. In addition, it's recognised their potential to help people quit smoking altogether, and says it looks forward to the day when the NHS can prescribe medicinally regulated devices. "E-cigarettes could be a game changer in public health, in particular by reducing the enormous health inequalities caused by smoking," Professor Ann McNeill from King's College London, and one of the review's independent authors said.
