http://www.forbes.com/sites/robwaters/2017/01/17/theres-not-much-sexy-about-an-e-cigarette-exploding-in-your-face/#2bab2377177e
Rob Waters ,
Contributor
I write about health, science and our crazy healthcare system.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
The last time I wrote about electronic cigarettes in this space, the post generated about as many comments as I’ve received from any piece (with the possible exception of the hate mail I got when I wrote about the need to permit federal funding for research looking at gun violence). The commenters called me a liar, an idiot and…well, you get the idea.
In that earlier post, I noted that e-cigarette marketers were peddling their products as cool and sexy. The ads are full of women with bare shoulders or in slinky blue satin who “smoke in style” (as an ad for blu e-cigarettes exclaims), while dangling their devices. Now, the continuing spate of news about e-cigs blowing up in the faces or pockets of users made me wonder what a new set of anti-e-cigarette commercials might look like. (Note to California Dept. of Public Health: there’s an idea for you here.)
E-cigarette devices have burst into flames in people’s pockets, blown up in their mouths or exploded while charging. Videos of them starting a fire from the pocket of a Fresno, California, bus rider or in a Leeds, England, market are now making the rounds on the Internet.
But this is no laughing matter.
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration announced it is investigating the dangers of “battery-operated nicotine-delivery devices” as they clinically, but accurately, refer to e-cigarettes. The agency has documented 134 incidents of e-cigarette batteries overheating, exploding or catching fire.
The FDA will hold a two-day public workshop to discuss safety issues surrounding the batteries used in e-cigarettes on April 19 and April 20, 2017, that scientists and members of the public are invited to attend. Some wonder why it took so long.