Essay: Health Risks Of E-Cigarettes And Public Health Implications.

Your completed Final Project must include the following:

The five essential components of a health policy analysis

• A clearly articulated problem statement
• A background section that provides a factual overview of the problem being analyzed
• A landscape section that provides the context of the problem in terms of key stakeholders and factors
• An options section that provides three to five viable choices to resolve the problem
• A well-supported recommendation section that develops one of the options identified, describes future modifications that might be necessary, and explains potential implications of social change due to your recommendation.

New Federal Laws and Regulations on E-Cigarettes

After years of battling debate regarding the health risks of the electronic cigarettes, new federal laws have now come to effect for the regulation of e-cigarettes. It is presently illegal to sell electronic cigarettes to anyone less than 18 years of age. The federal laws also require the adults under the age of 26 to show photo identification for buying them.  The regulations were waited for a long period of time and the regulations about the use of e-cigarettes have raised controversial public debate which has put the heft of federal government behind a restrictive approach to the usage of the device (Birkland, 2014).

Electronic cigarettes are the cigarette devices that are powered by a battery which has a heated liquid, also known as e-liquid.  The e-liquid is injected with the aerosol that is inhaled by a person. The aerosol is called vapour. In e-cigarette, the smoke which is the user inhales is an aerosol which may contain nicotine along with propylene glycol and another chemical into the lungs, unlike traditional tobacco cigarettes where the smoke comes from the burning of tobacco (Blue, et al., 2016).  With the increased emergence of the tobacco smoking, e-cigarette was found as a replacement for the tobacco cigarettes.

• Process of organizational documentation
• Information architecture or plan
• Approach to documentation
• P&P expertise
• Tools or technology

A health organization needs to have effective documentation process that describes regarding how members of the health organization in the maintenance and development of the life span of health policy. The information architect or plan is that which recognizes the health organization and coverage of the subject matter along with the related topics that are needed to be included (Blue, et al., 2016). The approach of the documentation of the health policies describes the designation of how the health policies content will be designed and presented. This also includes the methods of documentation, formats, styles and techniques.

The expertise of the health policies is a necessary aspect of the designing, planning, implementing, coordinating and publishing the content of the health policies along with the expertise that is needed for the management of the health program and the projects associated with the health content development (Brassolotto, Raphael & Baldeo, 2014). The designated technologies for the development, storage, publishing, management of content, accessing along with regulating the content usage is vital in the health policy analysis.

Every health organization is varied at various maturity stages for their investments in the policies and programming programs. Hence, before enhancing or establishing a prevailing health policy and program, it is vital to obtain an assessment that is objective for the maturity of the health organization including where the health policy and program are present and where it requires being in the future.

Electronic Cigarettes and their Functioning

After the establishment of the maturity level, it is needed to develop a strategic health policy program plan (Brassolotto, Raphael & Baldeo, 2014). The strategic plan of the health policy will enable the health organization to achieve the required level of maturity for every component and would ensure that the health organization will enhance the value of its investments regarding the health policy and program.

For last few years, electronic cigarettes, which are often called as a personal vaporizer has become an alternative that is popular for use of people instead of the tobacco cigarettes? These were originally developed as a replacement tool which would be used for the quitting smoking (Dunn, 2015). With further research, it has come to light those electronic cigarettes are factually associated with lung cancer and many other respiratory diseases. Electronic cigarettes have become a lot more than a replacement tool for ending smoking. However, these have developed into a popular subculture phenomena which are called as the vaping community which seems to replicate the advocates of marijuana in many aspects.

The vaping community continues to enforce a belief that electronic cigarettes are safer than the conventional cigarettes. They also believe that these tools have little health risk to the vapor, i.e. electronic cigarette smoker. It is found out that there is substantially increase in the concerns regarding the safety of vaping. The pre-vaping liquid used is in the electronic cigarettes, i.e., propylene glycol degenerates over time into formaldehyde (Fox, 2014).  The reaction between the propylene glycol, electronic aerosolizer, formaldehyde, and glycerol creates a formaldehyde releasing agent that is called formaldehyde hemiacetals that are known as the industrial biocides. These reactions are not good even with the limited levels of in an EC aerosol.  

Formaldehyde is created in one's own body as the by-product of various biochemical reactions. It is a fact that many foods also contain huge amounts of formaldehyde but the levels at which the foods contain the chemical does not pose any implications regarding health risk (Fox, 2014). Higher levels of formaldehyde are released by the use of electronic cigarettes which is associated with certain cancer.

The formaldehyde produced by the use of electronic cigarette has been considered as a Group 1 compound that is carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.   This formaldehyde is included in the list of most damaging chemical that is reactive to the organs such as mouth, throat, lungs, etc. the researchers have also found that a user of electronic cigarette inhales the vapours at a rate of 3 ml every day on an average along with inhaling 14.3 mg o formaldehyde every day in releasing agents of formaldehyde. It is the dose and not the presence of formaldehyde that works as poison according to toxicology (Giaimo, 2016).  An average pack of conventional cigarettes which contains 20 numbers of cigarettes would deliver almost 3 mg of formaldehyde to the user.

Effective Documentation Procedures for Health Organizations

As a whole, the user of electronic cigarette inhales approximately the equivalent amount of formaldehyde that 5 packets of cigarettes have. As a whole, conventional cigarettes that are based on tobacco have more carcinogens along with formaldehyde. Researchers have also stated that increased lifetime risk of cancer for a conventional cigarette user who smokes one pack every day to be about 900 out of a million (Giaimo, 2016). Based on the level of 14.3 mg of formaldehyde which is a carcinogen at high levels, it has been estimated that inhalation of 3ml of electronic cigarette liquid in the form of aerosol that would result in a lifetime risk of cancer which would be suffered by 4300 million users out of a million people which is approximately five times higher in number than smoking conventional cigarettes.

The risk of cancer might be considerably higher according to the nature and type of formaldehyde that is created by the vaping process.  This leads to the controversy whether it is safe to use the electronic cigarettes that are carcinogenic compounds which would significantly increase the risk of cancer (Huang, et al., 2015). The accountability of proof has, to begin with, the shifting to the driving forces of these things in order to present if it is safe to use the electronic cigarettes over a longer period of time. Moreover, it is evident that FDA is required to take part and monitor these products such as cigarettes, which would denote to the wide warnings of potential risks.  

The research against the use of electronic cigarettes has and would continue to take time, as the cancer-causing compound may not, in the real sense, cause cancer until decades in the future (Huang, et al., 2015). The research regarding the subject is time-consuming to identify that cigarette smoking causes cancer, hover, after many years of smoking, with better diagnostic tools people have recovered too.  All these facts indicate a potential issue and concern which provides scope for better research.

Electronic cigarettes were introduced so that smokers would receive help to control their nicotine craving while trying to stop their tobacco use. These battery-operated electronic devices are designed to deliver nicotine or other chemical substance to the users in form of vapour which is inhaled by the user. It contains toxicant and some bits of heavy metals. The underlying intention of the e-cigarette was to replace the use of traditional cigarettes since it is believed that it helps smokers quit smoking (Nestle, 2013).

Expertise in Health Policies and Programming Programs

But in the last few years, these cigarettes have enjoyed tremendous popularity especially among the youth section of the society. The lack of much clinical research on e-cigarettes makes various health organisations concerned over the safety of its users. A number of state and local government bodies are trying to regulate its sales in order to minimize its consumption in the market.

The companies that produce e-cigarettes, target a number of stakeholder groups including youth, public health experts, health bodies, regulators, etc. The issue is that these products are described to their stakeholders as products that focus on tobacco harm reduction (Rosenbaum, 2013). The e-cigarettes are presented in a favourable light, as a boon for hardcore smokers, offering an alternative against traditional smoking so that the public health condition can improve. There is high risk of increasing the likelihood that non-smokers especially children and former smokers might start smoking again by using such e-cigarettes (Panjwani & Caraher, 2014).

Major problems associated with the use of e-cigarettes are the use of chemicals and other substances in the device which are of toxic nature and might cause respiratory or heart-related ailments. Almost all e-cigarettes use nicotine which is an addictive chemical and has negative consequences on maternal and fatal health.

As per data from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, there is rise in e-cigarette-related emergency calls to poison centres due to accidental absorption of e-cigarette liquid (Roberto, et al., 2015). There have been a few cases where people have died due to accidental consumption of the liquid. Since excess use of chemicals can have an adverse impact on the users, it is crucial to take required steps and control it (Reeves, et al., 2015).

In order to keep a check on the rise in use of e-cigarettes and control the problems associated with it, it is important to take necessary measures before it turns into a huge addiction like the traditional smoking. Some of the viable choices to resolve the problem have been listed below:

• Various healthcare bodies at local and state level need to regulate the e-cigarettes and its manufacture process so that no harmful substances are involved in the production process of these items. The process must comply with the statutory requirements in order to be produced and made available in the market for the end consumers.
• All the e-cigarettes manufacturers must register with the concerned governing body so that all the activities relating to various chemical substances used for the production can be monitored and controlled efficiently.
• The appropriate advertising and packaging is required so that accurate health warnings and safety labels are included and the consumer is made aware about all aspects concerning the use of e-cigarettes.
• The e-cigarettes advertisements which are mostly focused on the youth should be prohibited.
• Since a major amount of sales of e-cigarettes products happens online there should be check on this medium and its consumers. The sales people should check the age and identification of the consumers at the point of purchase and delivery. They need to comply with all the required laws in the buyer’s location.

There is need to have a strict check over the e-cigarette products so that it follows the necessary laws in state and/or local jurisdiction. Since in recent times its use has grown tremendously it is crucial to regulate the commodity otherwise it might lead to a new kind of addiction among the people.

The local and state government bodies need to implement Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) laws and regulations so that the quality of public health is not compromised. There needs to be a stern check on various aspects of the e-cigarette business operations including restriction on sales, distribution, marketing and advertising of the e-cigarettes. The total banning of e-cigarettes is also a viable option since the main ingredients used for its manufacture is nicotine which is highly addictive.

Concerns over Safety and Health Risks of E-Cigarettes

International support and cooperation is required to develop effective standards for the regulation of laws relating to tobacco use. The main priority of such standards should be to protect the general public health and use the best possible scientific process to produce products which have significant consequence on the health of the users.

Thus strict and high level monitoring and controlling is necessary to have an effective control on the usage of e-cigarettes among the users.

The recommendations included in the above section mainly focus on controlling the regulation of e-cigarettes from an authoritative level. Since the use of e-cigarettes has increased in different parts around the globe, a common and coordinated action is necessary from various governing bodies so that the practice of using these e-cigarettes can be curbed.

If the governments of all nations take necessary and strict steps at both local and state level to monitor that all producers and manufacturers of e-cigarettes are following the electronic nicotine delivery systems. The ban of these products will also bring about a positive change for the masses especially the users since it will reduce their use of the e-cigarettes. It will have favourable impact on different sections like youth, health centres, and regulators. The only group which will be disappointed with this change is the manufacturer of the e-cigarettes. 

The introduction of effective policies and stronger standards for the regulation of the e-cigarettes market will help the various governing bodies to keep a tab on the operations and functioning of the e-cigarette producers. Since these devices use lithium batteries, the manufacturer needs to meet the necessary quality standards otherwise it might lead to accidents. Better supervision of the underlying process of producing e-cigarette needs to be analysed to minimize the use of elements which have an adverse impact on the health of the user.

Conclusion

The main intention of introducing e-cigarette in the market was good but its growing use as an alternative to the traditional smoking has led to the addiction among major segment of the users. In many nations, e-cigarettes are considered to be drug delivery devices. Since it just uses a different medium as compared to tobacco cigarettes to deliver nicotine to its user it is harmful for the users. Many health communities are worried about the rise in use of these e-cigarettes, especially among the youth.

A number of recommendations have been included which will help the government to regulate all the activities relating to e-cigarette starting from production till distribution. There is need for better enforcement of the relevant laws so that the society is not at the receiving end. There needs to be consistent regulation in the e-cigarette segment so that its use can be restricted among the users. Since they contain toxins, there are high chances of the users suffering from some health issues. Children should not have any kind of access to these products since it can have severe impact on their health and immune system. Thus strict application of federal law is required to control e-cigarettes in the market.

The Vaping Community and its Beliefs

References

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