An Exclusive Interview with Dr. Farsalinos on Vaping Regulation
Published on: June 29, 2015
Max: Good Afternoon Dr Farsalinos, thank you for agreeing to talk to us. Firstly I’d like to ask about the recent findings put out by VaporShark regarding the presence of Diacetyl and Acetyl in some of the e-juices they stock. What advice would you have to someone who has been vaping one of these liquids for some time?
Dr. Farsalinos: My suggestion is not to use Diacetyl or Acetyl for any reason. The only reason that you would use them is that it tastes better than the Diacetyl and Acetyl free liquids, aside from this there is no reason for these ingredients to be contained in e-liquid. It isn’t worth the risk. Everyone can decide for themselves, I’m not here to implement or enforce any decisions, it’s a personal decision. We need to educate the users with what we know about Diacetyl and let them decide for themselves.
There are of course, people who are trying to tell vapers what they can and can’t do. The welsh government have just started to speak about enforcing a ban on e-cigarette use inside. What do you think about this?
Vaping in enclosed spaces, within reasonable levels is perfectly fine. Not one hundred vapers in ten square feet, but within reasonable amounts it’s not anything we should be concerned about. There is no risk coming from this, but as I said this is irrelevant to what we see at vape expos where clouds are coming from hundreds of vapers with limited circulation. As for a vaper in the house, I don’t think there is any reason for concern if other people are in close proximity.
In the same vein, you’ve carried out much research into the emissions from e-cigarettes; namely into the presence of metals and aldehydes in released vapour. This contradicts a lot of science that is publicised, how do we go about correcting the misuse and resulting bad science that stems from poor knowledge of how vaping works?
Yes, science regarding e-cigarettes is widely publicised, it’s a vicious cycle. The scientists know that whatever they do they are going to generate headlines. The universities like headlines, and they are provoking such a reaction from the press. The only thing we can do is just educate them, unfortunately it is also the scientists that need to be educated. Besides that of course, react whenever they are releasing and publishing bad science. We cannot argue theoretically though, we need evidence. Just criticising won’t work, it’s not an active response. It’s a reaction that doesn’t give any new information, so we have to provide science and carry out studies in order to adequately respond.
In this vein, what can vapers expect to see coming out of your laboratories in terms of new research?
Well, we are continuing the aldehyde release from decomposition. This is relevant to the temperatures studied and how they affect this. We are also still observing the metals and we are carrying out some clinical studies. We have multiple projects running at the same time, and that is how we can produce science at a fast rate.
Where did your interest in e-cigarettes come from? You have been doing research into them for some time, what first sparked your interest?
It was late 2011. It came from an email with a picture of two of my friends vaping. It generated some interest, initially I told them that it was a waste of money and they should come to me and I would give them some medication to quit if they wanted to. Then they kept sending me pictures of them vaping, and that created the whole interest in performing some research into e-cigarettes. Initially I knew nothing about vaping, and had to research online. I had to go to a Greek internet forum, to get some information on what the ingredients were, what devices were commonly used. It was the ego batteries at the time. I started by performing the first clinical study in which I was really happy that I had some vapers who participated, who were very interested in giving me a lot of information. They bought me their devices, explained to me what was significant. That’s how I learned a lot of things, through direct contact with vapers. This is exactly what what’s wrong with a lot of the other scientists. They seem to have a complete lack of knowledge about how an e-cigarette works. You need to engage vapers, you need to ask them what to do, how to do it, why, how to avoid things like the ‘dry-puff’. It’s very important and for those people who don’t have direct contact with e-cigs, they need to ask people who know.
Since you begun research in 2011, the technology has come a long way since then. Do you think that the technology is moving forward too fast, causing potential risks?
Well the development is fast and it’s difficult to follow, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. We’ve seen the new generation of atomisers for example are much better, not only in terms of performance but also in terms of materials. Plastics have been replaced with glass, they are using stainless steel as opposed to other metals. So we’re seeing an improvement not only in performance, although performance is important. This will mean devices are more effective in quitting smoking. Safety has improved too, and so all round this development has been a good thing. We should preserve that. I expect that this is going to slow down when the new regulations come out, especially from the EU.
What do you think the regulations that the EU propose will look like? Will it be damaging or will it help to prevent faulty products and dangerous liquids?
There will be regulations on everything by the EU. It could help, if it’s rational and proportionate. I think that we are in a position where the regulation won’t be too bad. Especially if you compare it to what is going on in America, which is a complete mess. The FDA proposals for regulation are terrible. Ours are not going to be as bad. Based on current expectations, it looks to be a few thousand euros for a product to be approved. I expect that the ability is going to be somewhat reduced, especially for the companies that have two or three hundred flavours. I think it’s not too much, maybe there is room for improvement. Reducing the expectations and the number of tests performed would be a step in the right direction.
It could be worse, we could be in California!
Yes, the FDA proposal excludes everyone aside from a few big, mostly tobacco companies developing one or two products. No one is going to be able to sustain the regulation that the FDA is proposing. In the US it’s much more feasible to implement such regulation. At this time we are engaged in discussions about how to best implement the TPD proposal into a dictate of requirements. There are discussions as we speak. There are some proposals of what to do, it’s not been available to the public until now, but I know what’s going on. There are some proposals that are on the table. I hope that some may be removed, but there isn’t a big problem like in the US. They basically have to erase the whole regulatory proposal because it’s a disaster.
What can vapers around the world do to affect these proposals?
Right now, I don’t know if there’s anything you can do. Most of the proposals are very technical and not available to the public. When they become available, you can react appropriately. There are discussions about the number of tests, and it’s technical. You can’t speak about it without expert knowledge. It is about defining what tests are going to be required. It’s going to be harder for the vapers to react to that, you need evidence based responses, you need to show them why they don’t need too many tests. This is the key issue, we need a shortlist of testing that will provide real information, we don’t want tests that provide basically nothing in terms of safety. We have to keep it proportional and cheap so that everyone can follow the regulation. I’m sure very small companies will struggle with the regulation, and this is happening in every consumer industry. Unfortunately the very small players will be moved or they will have to get together and create bigger corporations. That is something that you always expect with regulation.
Are you speaking personally to the EU about the regulations?
I am following this, and I’m trying to intervene indirectly because even in the EU they are not open to me. That’s really strange because the are including in the discussions all those they consider a stakeholder, only some companies and not scientists. It’s strange and sad, I can say, because the regulation is not only going to affect the financial aspects of the companies. It’s going to affect the acceptability and availability of the product. If it’s very expensive, it’s going to make the product very expensive which is going to affect public use. So I think they should consult scientists also, as stakeholders and people who should be informed about proposed regulation. Unfortunately they have not. That’s really sad.
Thanks to Dr. Farsalinos for the wise and insightful words on the world of vaping. He is a very knowledgeable man and has done enough studies to provide you with a bank of resouces for debates regarding the safety of vaping. His blog can be found here: http://www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php and has all of his studies on.
source: http://blog.getvape.co.uk/exclusive-interview-dr-farsalinos-regulation/
Published on: June 29, 2015
Max: Good Afternoon Dr Farsalinos, thank you for agreeing to talk to us. Firstly I’d like to ask about the recent findings put out by VaporShark regarding the presence of Diacetyl and Acetyl in some of the e-juices they stock. What advice would you have to someone who has been vaping one of these liquids for some time?
Dr. Farsalinos: My suggestion is not to use Diacetyl or Acetyl for any reason. The only reason that you would use them is that it tastes better than the Diacetyl and Acetyl free liquids, aside from this there is no reason for these ingredients to be contained in e-liquid. It isn’t worth the risk. Everyone can decide for themselves, I’m not here to implement or enforce any decisions, it’s a personal decision. We need to educate the users with what we know about Diacetyl and let them decide for themselves.
There are of course, people who are trying to tell vapers what they can and can’t do. The welsh government have just started to speak about enforcing a ban on e-cigarette use inside. What do you think about this?
Vaping in enclosed spaces, within reasonable levels is perfectly fine. Not one hundred vapers in ten square feet, but within reasonable amounts it’s not anything we should be concerned about. There is no risk coming from this, but as I said this is irrelevant to what we see at vape expos where clouds are coming from hundreds of vapers with limited circulation. As for a vaper in the house, I don’t think there is any reason for concern if other people are in close proximity.
In the same vein, you’ve carried out much research into the emissions from e-cigarettes; namely into the presence of metals and aldehydes in released vapour. This contradicts a lot of science that is publicised, how do we go about correcting the misuse and resulting bad science that stems from poor knowledge of how vaping works?
Yes, science regarding e-cigarettes is widely publicised, it’s a vicious cycle. The scientists know that whatever they do they are going to generate headlines. The universities like headlines, and they are provoking such a reaction from the press. The only thing we can do is just educate them, unfortunately it is also the scientists that need to be educated. Besides that of course, react whenever they are releasing and publishing bad science. We cannot argue theoretically though, we need evidence. Just criticising won’t work, it’s not an active response. It’s a reaction that doesn’t give any new information, so we have to provide science and carry out studies in order to adequately respond.
In this vein, what can vapers expect to see coming out of your laboratories in terms of new research?
Well, we are continuing the aldehyde release from decomposition. This is relevant to the temperatures studied and how they affect this. We are also still observing the metals and we are carrying out some clinical studies. We have multiple projects running at the same time, and that is how we can produce science at a fast rate.
Where did your interest in e-cigarettes come from? You have been doing research into them for some time, what first sparked your interest?
It was late 2011. It came from an email with a picture of two of my friends vaping. It generated some interest, initially I told them that it was a waste of money and they should come to me and I would give them some medication to quit if they wanted to. Then they kept sending me pictures of them vaping, and that created the whole interest in performing some research into e-cigarettes. Initially I knew nothing about vaping, and had to research online. I had to go to a Greek internet forum, to get some information on what the ingredients were, what devices were commonly used. It was the ego batteries at the time. I started by performing the first clinical study in which I was really happy that I had some vapers who participated, who were very interested in giving me a lot of information. They bought me their devices, explained to me what was significant. That’s how I learned a lot of things, through direct contact with vapers. This is exactly what what’s wrong with a lot of the other scientists. They seem to have a complete lack of knowledge about how an e-cigarette works. You need to engage vapers, you need to ask them what to do, how to do it, why, how to avoid things like the ‘dry-puff’. It’s very important and for those people who don’t have direct contact with e-cigs, they need to ask people who know.
Since you begun research in 2011, the technology has come a long way since then. Do you think that the technology is moving forward too fast, causing potential risks?
Well the development is fast and it’s difficult to follow, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. We’ve seen the new generation of atomisers for example are much better, not only in terms of performance but also in terms of materials. Plastics have been replaced with glass, they are using stainless steel as opposed to other metals. So we’re seeing an improvement not only in performance, although performance is important. This will mean devices are more effective in quitting smoking. Safety has improved too, and so all round this development has been a good thing. We should preserve that. I expect that this is going to slow down when the new regulations come out, especially from the EU.
What do you think the regulations that the EU propose will look like? Will it be damaging or will it help to prevent faulty products and dangerous liquids?
There will be regulations on everything by the EU. It could help, if it’s rational and proportionate. I think that we are in a position where the regulation won’t be too bad. Especially if you compare it to what is going on in America, which is a complete mess. The FDA proposals for regulation are terrible. Ours are not going to be as bad. Based on current expectations, it looks to be a few thousand euros for a product to be approved. I expect that the ability is going to be somewhat reduced, especially for the companies that have two or three hundred flavours. I think it’s not too much, maybe there is room for improvement. Reducing the expectations and the number of tests performed would be a step in the right direction.
It could be worse, we could be in California!
Yes, the FDA proposal excludes everyone aside from a few big, mostly tobacco companies developing one or two products. No one is going to be able to sustain the regulation that the FDA is proposing. In the US it’s much more feasible to implement such regulation. At this time we are engaged in discussions about how to best implement the TPD proposal into a dictate of requirements. There are discussions as we speak. There are some proposals of what to do, it’s not been available to the public until now, but I know what’s going on. There are some proposals that are on the table. I hope that some may be removed, but there isn’t a big problem like in the US. They basically have to erase the whole regulatory proposal because it’s a disaster.
What can vapers around the world do to affect these proposals?
Right now, I don’t know if there’s anything you can do. Most of the proposals are very technical and not available to the public. When they become available, you can react appropriately. There are discussions about the number of tests, and it’s technical. You can’t speak about it without expert knowledge. It is about defining what tests are going to be required. It’s going to be harder for the vapers to react to that, you need evidence based responses, you need to show them why they don’t need too many tests. This is the key issue, we need a shortlist of testing that will provide real information, we don’t want tests that provide basically nothing in terms of safety. We have to keep it proportional and cheap so that everyone can follow the regulation. I’m sure very small companies will struggle with the regulation, and this is happening in every consumer industry. Unfortunately the very small players will be moved or they will have to get together and create bigger corporations. That is something that you always expect with regulation.
Are you speaking personally to the EU about the regulations?
I am following this, and I’m trying to intervene indirectly because even in the EU they are not open to me. That’s really strange because the are including in the discussions all those they consider a stakeholder, only some companies and not scientists. It’s strange and sad, I can say, because the regulation is not only going to affect the financial aspects of the companies. It’s going to affect the acceptability and availability of the product. If it’s very expensive, it’s going to make the product very expensive which is going to affect public use. So I think they should consult scientists also, as stakeholders and people who should be informed about proposed regulation. Unfortunately they have not. That’s really sad.
Thanks to Dr. Farsalinos for the wise and insightful words on the world of vaping. He is a very knowledgeable man and has done enough studies to provide you with a bank of resouces for debates regarding the safety of vaping. His blog can be found here: http://www.ecigarette-research.com/web/index.php and has all of his studies on.
source: http://blog.getvape.co.uk/exclusive-interview-dr-farsalinos-regulation/
