Concord Ledger

Washington, D.C. – Reps. Annie Kuster (NH-02), Chris Pappas (NH-01), and Ro Khanna (CA-17) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the administration to improve warning labels on e-cigarette products. Specifically, the letter calls on the FDA to require that e-cigarette products caution consumers about carcinogenic ingredients, direct consumers to the product website, and explicitly advise against use.

Over the past decade, research has exposed numerous health hazards associated with e-cigarettes. E-cigarette users, largely children, teenagers, and young adults, must be fully informed of these risks. The FDA has taken important steps to publicize the harms of nicotine. However, there are hundreds of other lesser-known cancer-causing chemicals in e-cigarette products that endanger consumers. Under the Tobacco Control Act, the FDA is responsible for regulating e-cigarette products to preserve public health. The Members urge the agency to uphold their duty by identifying all carcinogenic chemicals in e-cigarettes and widely advertising the dangers of these chemicals.

“Consumers cannot make informed decisions to protect their health if they do not have access to the facts about the hazardous ingredients in e-cigarettes,” the Members wrote in their letter. “The FDA and HHS should improve messaging to the public regarding the public health threat associated with non-nicotine ingredients in these vaping products.”

Representatives Kuster, Pappas, and Khanna were joined by five other co-signers: Katie Porter (CA-47), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Nydia Velázquez (NY-7), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25).

The letter has also been endorsed by Less Cancer, a non-profit working to increase cancer prevention efforts in the United States and around the world.

“I am grateful for the teamwork and leadership of Representative Ro Khanna, Representative Chris Pappas, and Representative Annie Kuster to protect the public from unnecessary and preventable health risks. I also wish to thank Less Cancer's Board of Directors and Scientist, Author Mindi Messmer for their leadership as well,” said Less Cancer Founder Bill Couzens.

Scientist and author Mindi Messmer said, “Most people don’t know that they are inhaling dangerous chemicals when they or their children vape. That’s because manufacturers are not required to disclose – and they don’t – that e-cigarette liquids may contain hundreds of chemical substances that are known to cause cancer and other chronic diseases. I am so thankful that U.S. Representatives Khanna, Pappas, and Kuster and Less Cancer have alerted FDA about the need to reign in manufacturers on this dangerous public health threat caused by vaping.”

The full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Original source can be found here.