Banned since 2009 cigarettes electronics must remain outside Brazilian trade. In 2019 National Health Surveillance Agency (anviza) began the process of updating the manual, and there was speculation about possible flexibility. However, the agency’s technical team upheld the recommendation against the device as “potentially harmful to public health” and the release is “technically not feasible.”

Even despite the ban, the use of “technological cigarettes” has grown in the country in recent years, and today it is a “fever” among many young people due to the ease of consumption: one battery is enough to heat the liquid that forms the essence. It is usually a mixture of water, food flavoring, nicotine, propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin.

“The scenario in which these products could be sold in the country turned out to be technically inadequate,” the report says. “[Isso] because of all the health risks, both individual and population, clearly caused by DEFs (Electronic Smoking Devices) and the lack of evidence of benefits to justify their use.”

Despite appearing to be harmless to health, mainly because of the pleasant aroma that is completely different from a regular cigarette, the electronic cigarette, or “vape” as it is commonly called, is criticized by medical professionals. It is often difficult to see what the essence contains, and the nicotine is not always “neutralized”. And aerosol production can make the device even more harmful than traditional smoke.

“It has a filament that needs to be heated,” said Paulo Correa, coordinator of the Tobacco Commission of the Brazilian Society of Pulmonology and Thysiology (SBPT), in an interview with Estadão.

“The filament is plated with nickel and other metals such as brass and copper. Nickel levels in e-cigarettes are two to 100 times higher than in traditional cigarettes. And it is considered carcinogenic,” he added.

E-cigarette manufacturers and some of their users insist that the risk is minimal and that they can help fight ordinary cigarette addiction, even the “side effects” of the substances they contain. In addition, experts believe that it may be a gateway to smoking.

Anvisa indicated that data on short-term and long-term risks were not provided by e-cigarette companies, and the agency’s technical team, which is responsible for the future of the product in Brazil, asked for educational activities to discourage its use.

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Source: UOL, Estadão.