Parliament
Absolutely nothing of note is happening in Parliament at the moment, so it’s no wonder they’ve found time to talk about vaping and tobacco harm reduction
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by Dave Cross
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Alex Sobel, the Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, asked the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care whether an assessment has been made of the potential impact of vaping on public transport on public health. He was also interested if the Secretary of State will be taking any steps to further investigate this matter.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care, Neil O'Brien told him: “We have not made an assessment with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of vaping on public transport and public health. To date, there is no evidence of health risks of passive vaping by bystanders and therefore we do not intend to investigate this matter further.”
Romford Tory Andrew Rosindell asked the Secretary of State if he will bring forward legislative proposals to prevent vendors being able to give free samples of vapes to consumers under the age of 18.
Finger firmly on the pulse there.
Neil O'Brien reminded the parliamentarian: “On 30 May 2023, the Prime Minister announced a range of new proposals to protect children from the risks of vaping, including closing the loophole that allows the vaping industry to give free samples of vapes to children in England.”
Neil Hudson MP focussed on the ingredients of juice. He asked whether the Department for Health has made an assessment of the harmfulness of cinnamaldehyde and other chemicals found in e-liquids. He also wanted to know what the levels of nickel, chromium and lead are.
O'Brien replied: “No assessment has been made of the estimated levels of nickel, chromium or lead in vaping products.
“However, the Government recently announced £3 million of funding for a new national illicit vaping enforcement unit to tackle illicit and underage vape sales across the country. This includes the testing of products thought to be non-compliant.”
He pointed to The Office of Health Improvements and Disparities evidence updates.
O'Brien added: “These reports include systematic reviews of the respiratory, cardiovascular and cancer risks as well as reports on the risks from fires, explosions and poisonings, including relating to the harmfulness of cinnamaldehyde and other chemicals.”
Continuing, he reminded Hudson that businesses supplying vapes and e-liquids “must ensure their products comply with the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, including relating to the safety of their products. Local trading standards have enforcement powers to remove non-compliant products.”
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has produced guidance on ingredients and emission testing that companies making or importing e-cigarettes and e-liquids are required to follow, Chapter 3 - Emissions Guidance and Chapter 6 - Ingredient Guidance. This states that companies wishing to place their products on the UK market must submit information on key emissions and ingredients to the MHRA.
Neil Hudson followed up by asking whether the Department has made an assessment of the potential impact on demand for vaping products of making such products available by prescription only.
Neil O'Brien affirmed that no assessment has been made, adding “There are no medicinally licensed vaping product approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As such, the Government is not currently considering making vaping products prescription only.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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