Health board addresses e-cigarettes

By Mary Zielinski
Posted 12/5/19

At its Nov. 21 meeting, the Washington County Board of Health acknowledged a revised position statement on electronic cigarettes that supports prohibiting their use in state and local smoke-free air …

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Health board addresses e-cigarettes

Posted

At its Nov. 21 meeting, the Washington County Board of Health acknowledged a revised position statement on electronic cigarettes that supports prohibiting their use in state and local smoke-free air regulations.

The statement is a revised one on electronic cigarettes that was first presented at the Oct. 17 meeting.

At that time, Public Health Administrator Danielle Pettit-Majewski said that with new regulations and ordinances being changed in surrounding communities, it was important to publicize the board’s position on the topic of e-cigarettes.

While noting the problem, board member Jack Seward requested that the statement focus more on education and enforcement and cut the amount of statistics.

The statement, after referencing the December 2018 Surgeon General’s advisory on the additive and dangerous nature of nicotine, notes that increases use of e-cigarettes since 2014 with use among high school students increasing by 78% between in 2017-2018.

It goes on to say about the aerosol form:

“E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless. In addition to nicotine, the aerosol that users inhale and exhale from e-cigarettes contains other harmful substances including heavy metals, formaldehyde, acrolein, cancer-causing chemicals, volatile organic compounds and ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs.”

The statement notes other issues:

• Bystanders can inhale the vapor.

• There is no evidence that e-cigarettes promote long-term smoking cessation.

The board agreed that emphasis on concerns about e-cigarettes and vaping should be with education programs, including national research findings.