Alternative Cigarette Raises Concerns

[george]

Alternative cigarette raises concerns

BANGKOK: -- Authorities will have to watch out for nicotine gel, an alternative cigarette that looks set to attract smokers but may be harmful to health.

By just rubbing the gel in one's hands, one will be able to experience having a cigarette within 30 seconds.

The nicotine gel is touted as a solution to people who feel the urge to smoke in smoking-free places.

"The problem is that there is no research to confirm that this product is really safe," Thailand Health Promotion Institute president Dr Hatai Chitanondh said yesterday, "This is not a certified quit-smoking product."

According to him, the nicotine gel is already available at more than 400 retail shops in Malaysia. Despite its ban in Thailand, the product has the potential to find its way to Thai smokers via Internet advertisements.

"So, we need to monitor the product movement closely," Hatai said, a veteran crusader against smoking.

Hatai said the gel could make people take in too much nicotine before they realise it.

"Possible side-effects are higher blood pressure and faster heartbeat rate," he pointed out. "Such side-effects could be dangerous in people who have underlying diseases".

Hatai said he had heard that the nicotine-gel manufacturer had planned to introduce it in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

Thailand has also banned the sale of electronic cigarettes. Made of stainless steel, the e-cigarette has a chamber for storing liquid nicotine in various concentrations and it is powered by a rechargeable battery and resembles a real cigarette. Users puff on it as they would a real cigarette, but they do not light it, and it produces no smoke. Rather, it produces a fine, heated mist, which is absorbed into the lungs.

Companies often market electronic cigarettes as a healthier alternative to tobacco smoking.

However, the World Health Organisation last year issued a release warning it does not consider the electronic cigarette to be a legitimate smoking cessation aid.

WHO said it had no scientific evidence to confirm the product's safety and efficacy.

-- The Nation 2009-06-29

[animatic]

It is not likely to stop smokers smoking, since it perpetuates the nicotine addiction.

But it will allow them to get their fix in non-smoking places.

It is an nicotine delivery system by another method.

Who knows what this atomized gel contains besides nicotine,

and what effects heating this gel to mist it has on the component parts individually

or in combination.

Chances are this is developed with cigarette manufacturers

to keep the nicotine addiction chain being sold, as places you

can actually smoke are diminishing greatly. The less one smokes,

ie the less nicotine in the system, the easier it is to quit outright.

Thge nicotine in the gel must be derived from tobacco one way or another,

and who profits here, besides the obvious tobacco companies.

And, not being too paranoid, but what about individual 2nd hand 'Mist'.

So you can't see the smoke or smell it to tell you are getting it

in your air space via exhale. Another, of course untested, potential side effect.

[ozsamurai]

Who knows what this atomized gel contains besides nicotine,

and what effects heating this gel to mist it has on the component parts individually

or in combination.

Chances are this is developed with cigarette manufacturers

to keep the nicotine addiction chain being sold, as places you

can actually smoke are diminishing greatly. The less one smokes,

ie the less nicotine in the system, the easier it is to quit outright.

The 'juice' as it is called for e cigarettes is made of nicotine and propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, these two components ONLY, the mist is the vaporizing of the glycol as you would burn sugar. Both of these product are edible and used commonly in thousands of products you and I use everyday.

The fact that the big tobacco companies actually do not have a stake in the production of e-liquid, therefore no multi millions flowing back into the govt pockets, is one of the major reasons why 'experts' are jumping on the expenses paid bandwagon to poo hoo anything that does not line their own pockets. You can make your own juice, and or buy it from reputatble pharmaceutical companies, way out of the hands of big tobacco, you dont think they want to nip this in the bud before it actually helps people or replaces their product. Like Kodak not picking up early enough on the digital camera boom, they are behind the 8 ball and know it.

If a person want to gel themselves to death, then they could just as easily smoke themselves into the same stupor with the govt permission, can you not see the irony in that?

As always, no one bothers to do the research.

Oz

[Scott]

Just a quick note to the gov't: nicotine is hazardous to your health and the use of this product is dangerous! It's a no-brainer. What they need to do is determine how much is safe, what concentrations it's made it etc.

[Jungian]

The side-effects of this product are the same as the patch and the gum which are available in Thailand and manufactured in Thailand. Although some manufacturers are marketing "Nicogel" as a way to get your fix on the airplane, at the office, in a bar, etc., etc. it was originally designed to be a quitting aid and is manufactured in the USA by an FDA approved company although this product is not under the jurisdiction of the FDA unless it is marketed as solely "stop smoking aid". My wife and I quit smoking 3 months ago she did the cold turkey thing and is doing well, I on the other hand decided to use the gum and still have fits but I will not return to smoking, nicotine replacement is not the way to go unless you are severely addicted (as I was) .

[animatic]

So Oz... where does this nicotine come from?

Who supplies it to the juice makers, or the "reputatble pharmaceutical companies"?

You go back down the food chain and it goes to big tobacco one way or another.

Who else makes nicotine?

I agree with the by passing taxation argument.

So propylene glycol,

or pseudo carmelzied sugar inhaled hourly with your nicotine as propylene glycol

So good for the diabetic or hypoglycemic...

 

propylene glycol

–noun Chemistry.

a colorless, viscous, hygroscopic liquid, C3H8O,

used chiefly as a lubricant, as an antifreeze, as a heat transfer fluid,

and as a solvent for fats, oils, waxes, and resins.

Detailed Propylene Glycol Description

It forms polyester reacting with biatomic acid, nitrate, nitric acid,

hydrochloric acid, chlorohydin; Heating with dilute sulfuric acid at 170oC,

it forms propionaldehyde while become carbonyl acetic acid under the impact

of oxidizing acid.

Propionaldehyde n.

A flammable liquid, C2H5CHO, used in the manufacture of plastics and rubber chemicals.

Used externally:

Hyperosmolality caused by percutaneously absorbed glycerin in a burned patient.

Hershey SD, Gursel E.

(the condition especially of a bodily fluid of having abnormally high osmolality;

hyper concentration of an osmotic solution especially when measured in

osmols or milliosmols per 1000 grams of solvent)

Hyperosmolality complicating the management of burned patients has multiple etiologies. Sepsis, hyperglycemia, renal failure, electrolyte disturbances, shock, and substances absorbed from the burn wound may be contributing factors. Chemicals, such as propylene glycol, within bacteriostatic topicals may also lead to hyperosmolality. This report describes a patient who developed severe hyperosmolality after 5% Betadine-glycerin therapy for a 60% partial-thickness burn. Status epilepticus developed 36 hours later, and triglycerides were 9,700 mg/dl. After Betadine-glycerin was stopped the central nervous system status slowly improved but pre-seizure function was never regained.

No clues about long term ingestion as vapor via the lungs...

Galen Suppes, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia and chief science officer of the university-based Renewable Alternatives, has developed a process for the conversion of glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production, into propylene glycol.

Production of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters) from vegetable oils and fats results in an approximately 10% release of glycerin as a byproduct. As biodiesel demand and production increase there will be a glut of glycerin. Use of the glycerin as a value-added product could help to reduce the cost of biodiesel to a more competitive level.

Suppes has developed a procedure for the conversion of glycerin to propylene ..

Propylene Glycol Toxicity: A Severe Iatrogenic Illness in ICU Patients Receiving IV Benzodiazepines*

A Case Series and Prospective, Observational Pilot Study

So Valium and it's cousins and this glycerin derivative turns toxic....

Aerosolized propylene glycol can provide dense “smoke” without flames. It is used

* by the military as a smoke screen to conceal the movement of troops on the battlefield and

* as a smoke simulator in various types of fire-training procedures and theatrical productions

De-Icing

* Propylene glycol is sometimes used as a de-icing agent; however, ethylene glycol is used more often because it costs less.

Sources of Exposure

In the general population, propylene glycol exposure occurs primarily through ingestion of food and medications and through dermal contact with cosmetics or topical medications. Propylene glycol is used as a solvent in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, in various formats

* oral

* injectable

* topical

For example, it makes up 40% of intravenous phenytoin (Dilantin) and other injectable medications (Meditext 2004).

No adverse health effects are likely to occur from normal use of these products. However, heavy use of injectable medications with propylene glycol (Louis, Kutt et al. 1967; Seay, Graves et al. 1997; Yorgin, Theodorou et al. 1997; Wilson, Reardon et al. 2000), or prolonged and extensive topical application on compromised skin, such as burns (Peleg, Bar-Oz et al. 1998), has caused excess levels of propylene glycol in the body.

Who is at Risk?

Propylene glycol toxicity has been reported only rarely and in unusual circumstances. For example, toxicity may result from

* excessively large or rapidly infused intravenous injections of propylene glycol-containing medications, excessively large or rapidly infused intravenous injections of propylene glycol-containing medications (Louis, Kutt et al. 1967; Seay, Graves et al. 1997; Yorgin, Theodorou et al. 1997; Wilson, Reardon et al. 2000)

* prolonged dermal contact during treatment of burns

Those at special risk include

* neonates

* infants

* the elderly (Martin and Finberg 1970; MacDonald, Getson et al. 1987; Glover and Reed 1996; Peleg, Bar-Oz et al. 1998).

Increased sensitivity (Reprotext 2004) may be seen in people with pre-existing

* skin conditions

* eye conditions

* (possibly) allergic conditions

Well benign it may be in some usages,

but I find this electronic smoker inhaler suspects at very least.

[jackdanielsesq]

Its kinda like saying "Would ya prefer the electric chair, lethal injection, noose or guillotine?"

Like ordering the blue-plate, dinner special!! Who cares?!?

Anyone who still uses nicotine, especially after all these years of info, is crazy. Ya gonna die a really miserable,

painful death anyways, man. Everyone who doesnt play baseball, prolly inhaled, ergo has emphysema. Thats

a nasty way to live and die. Perhaps a couple DUI & lung morgue visitations are in order in the more formative school

years, or is this simply another conspiracy-theorists way of keeping a cap on the exploding global population?!

Its such a no-brainer. Ya dont see folks sticking knives into themselves?!

One day someone gonna give the Marlboro Cowboy a Pulitzer.

BR>Jack

[ozsamurai]

Nicotine is in any plant in the nightshade family, including tomatoes, potatoes, aubergine, peppers and capsicums to name a few. Tobacco is just one of the family..

I loved the info on PG, thank you, any on Vegetable Glycerin?

oz

[animatic]

Oh Lordy, Lordy, I got an Eggplant Jones!

[jackdanielsesq]

I can see Pfizer going with the good stuff in an oil (soluble) based sun-bloc gel for ladies only. The ultimate Jones.

BR>Jack

[animatic]

I can see Pfizer going with the good stuff in an oil (soluble) based sun-bloc gel for ladies only. The ultimate Jones.

BR>Jack

You forgot the chocolate!

[ballpoint]

So Oz... where does this nicotine come from?

They visit hospital morgues and wring it out of the lungs of cancer victims.

[Joaquin13]

Authorities will have to watch out for nicotine gel, an alternative cigarette that looks set to attract smokers but may be harmful to health.

By just rubbing the gel in one's hands, one will be able to experience having a cigarette within 30 seconds.

The nicotine gel is touted as a solution to people who feel the urge to smoke in smoking-free places.

"The problem is that there is no research to confirm that this product is really safe," Thailand Health Promotion Institute president Dr Hatai Chitanondh said yesterday, "This is not a certified quit-smoking product."

According to him, the nicotine gel is already available at more than 400 retail shops in Malaysia. Despite its ban in Thailand, the product has the potential to find its way to Thai smokers via Internet advertisements.

[Thai at Heart]

So Oz... where does this nicotine come from?

They visit hospital morgues and wring it out of the lungs of cancer victims.

Ironically, they could synthesize it out of the leaves on any of the nightshade family although I would imagine they are using cultivated commercial tobacco for their source.