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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 1091.058 2012-2014PI PSMIrc Murashige, Laura From: Tami MacAller < tmacaller @tobaccofreehawaii.org> Sent: Monday, October 13, 2014 3:30 PM To: Council Testimony Cc: Clement, Jane; Reed, Victoria K.; Paul Strauss; Jennifer Griffith; sissie.pittullo @hotmail.com; Laura Guluzzy Subject: Testimony - Strong Support for HC Bill 302, Relating to Electronic Smoking Devices Attachments: HC Bill 302 Committee TestimonyTMacAller.pdf; ESD Emission Facts 10_13_14.pdf Importance: High Aloha Hawai'i County Council — Please find my attached testimony which strongly supports Bill 302. Also attached is a fact sheet with more details regarding major concerns about Electronic Smoking Device emissions. Thank you so much for all you do! Mahalo Nui Tami a Tami MacAller, MPH, MCHES West Hawaii Community Coalition Coordinator - -' Coalition For A Tobacco -Free Hawai'i _ A Program of the Hawai'i Public Health Institute %0 Phone: 808.238.0930 Email: tmacaller @tobaccofreehawaii.org web: www.tobaccofreehawaii.org Hawai'i Island Facebook: www. facebook. com/ HawaiiislandTobaccoFreePartnership "What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. " Joseph Addison Comm. N PIrp 5 M (► Ref. To: 1 Ref. Date PICT 14 2014 COALITION FOR A TOBACCO - FREE HAWAVI To: The Honorable Brenda Ford, Chair, Committee on Public Safety and Mass Transit And the Honorable Members of the Hawai' i County Council From: Tami MacAller, MPH, MCHES, CTFH West Hawaii Community Coordinator Date: October 13, 2014 Hrg: Public Safety Committee; Tues., October 14, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. in West Hawaii Civic Center Chambers Re: Strong Support for HC Bill 302, Relating to Electronic Smoking Devices Thank you for the opportunity to offer testimony in strong support of HC Bill No. 302, which regulates electronic smoking devices (ESDs). The Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii (Coalition) is a program of the Hawaii Public Health Institute working to reduce tobacco use through education, policy and advocacy. The Coalition supports including ESDs by amending chapter 14 (general welfare), article 4 of the Hawaii county code 1983 (2005 edition, as amended) relating to prohibition of smoking in certain places and the use of electronic smoking devices, which will provide for further consistency and protection in the workplace, and other areas where tobacco use is prohibited in Hawaii County. HC Bill 302 adds and amends important definitions of the law, which are critical to allowing consistency among all of Hawai' i County's smoking laws. Confusion of smoking prohibitions results without such definitions in place. Furthermore, emerging research shows dual use where cigarette users switch to ESDs in locations they are not permitted to smoke.' Allowing the use of ESDs in locations where smoking is prohibited is problematic in that ESD use threatens the social norm, creates distractions in the workplace, and undercuts years of progress by tobacco control groups. Currently in Hawaii, ESDs are not regulated at any level; therefore all emissions and chemicals released in exhalation are also unregulated. ESDs do not emit harmless water vapor, but emit an aerosol that contains nicotine, ultra -fine particles, volatile organic compounds, and other toxins.2 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not found consistent control processes within the manufacturing of ESDs. Restricting ESD use is a growing trend across the US. Currently, at least 110 counties restrict the use of ESDs, including New York City, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and San Diego. I Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Notes from the field: electronic cigarette use among middle and high school students -- United States, 2011 -2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2013;62:729 -730. Available at httl2://www.cdc.i4ov/t-nmwL/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6235a6.htm?s cid= mm6235a6 w 2 Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, "Electronic (e -) Cigarettes and Secondhand Aerosol ", available at http: / /no- smoke. org,/pdf /ecicarette- secondhand- aerosol.pdf. 850 Richards Street Suite 200 • Honolulu, HI 96813 • (808) 591 -6508 • www.tobaccofrL-L-hawaii.org *The Coalition for a Tobacco -Free Hawaii is a program of the Hawaii Public Health Institute COALITION FOR A TOBACCO -FREE HAWAII Manufacturers and retailers acknowledge that ESDs contain nicotine, are addictive and habit - forming, are intended for committed smokers, and should not be used by women who are pregnant or persons with an elevated risk of any medical condition, including, but not limited to, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or asthma.3 As a public health educator I have had many requests recently from West Hawaii middle schools to educate students on the harms of ESD's. When asking students if they had ever used an ESD, over 75% of the students at one school responded "yes" when asked if they had tried ESD's. They had been told that the flavored e juice was safe to use. Most flavored e juice contains diacetal and proplylene glycol. These chemicals are for food additives, but not made for inhaling. When heated (ESD's heat at over 600° F) these chemicals become airborne respiratory irritants, causing upper respiratory irritation to people around the user and have been found to cause asthma in children.4 In closing, local concern about ESD use is growing. Since ESD's are smoked, most of the local hotels ban ESD use as a part of their Smoke -Free policy. Local restaurants haven't had many issues with ESD users and will ask customers who are using to go outside. Some establishment allow ESD use until another customer complains. One grocery store has a "No Smoking — Including ESD" sign posted, other stores hope to have signs soon but will kindly ask a customer to use outside. This past weekend as I was volunteering to catch finishers at the Ironman Triathlon, I personally witnessed someone using an ESD around these athletic champions. The user who was also volunteering was asked to stop or leave the area... Just what was he thinking? That after a 140+ mile Ironman event — it would be safe for athletes to inhale ESD aerosol? I urge you to pass Bill 302 in order to provide protection for the public. Failing to act may set us back decades. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this matter. Tami MacAller MPH, MCHES West Hawaii Community Coalition Coordinator 3 http://www.eiuiceusa.com/wamings --- read-me.php; www.val2edudes.com /; http: / /www.val2ortokers.com /; http / /www vir is, nvapor com /; http://www.voicanoeci.ps.comlabout-us a Offerman FJ, The Hazards of E- Cigarettes. ASHRAE, 38 -44. 2014 850 Richards Street Suite 200 • Honolulu, HI 96813 • (808) 591 -6508 • www.tobaccofreehawaii.org *The Coalition for a Tobacco -Free Hawaii is a program of the Hawaii Public Health Institute COALITION FOR A TOBACCO-FREE HAWAII Hawaii County Council Bill 302 Prohibit the use of Electronic Smoking Devices (ESD's) where smoking /tobacco use is prohibited Description: • Electronic smoking devices (ESDs), also known as electronic or e- cigarettes, are battery- operated devices designed to be used like conventional cigarettes. • ESDs contain cartridges that are usually filled with liquid ( "e- juice ") containing nicotine, flavoring, and other chemicals. • ESDs turn nicotine and other chemicals into an aerosol that is inhaled and exhaled into the air by the user. Maior Concerns: • Persons with breathing disabilities may have their lung functioning compromised, when exposure to e- cigarette aerosol. o Short term exposure causes eye, throat, and airway irritation o Long term exposure causes asthma attacks • ESD uses a heater to cook a -juice at very high temperatures (6627) — higher than your oven at home. • When a -juice is heated the a -juice chemicals change to toxic poisons that are emitted into the air as a visible aerosol or smoke of condensed submicron liquid droplets, which contain many chemicals including some that are carcinogenic, such as formaldehyde, metals (cadmium, lead, nickel), and nitrosamines. • In one study of the chemical emissions from different e- cigarettes found that the aerosol indirect exposure to non -users greatly exceeded health risk hazard quotients for nicotine and propylene glycol. • There has been little research into the emissions of the flavor additives in electronic smoking devices. Favorants, like diacetal and proplylene glycol are FDA GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) for food additives, but not made for inhaling. These become airborne respiratory irritants, causing upper respiratory irritation to people around the user. • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that more than a quarter - million youth who had never smoked a cigarette used e- cigarettes in 2013. • 75% of middle school students from one school in Kona, Hawaii have tried electronic smoking devices Public Opinion (Results from 2014 Hawaii County (HC) Tobacco Poll conducted by SMS for the Coalition in 2014): • 96% of HC residents feel second -hand smoke (SHS) is harmful • 84% of HC support the Smoke -Free Cars law • 74% of HC residents support the Tobacco -Free parks /beaches law • 91% of HC residents have knowledge of a cigarettes • 89% of HC residents support the 2006 Smoke -Free workplace law • 70% of HC residents support including ESD's to the work place Smoke -Free law Coalition for a Tobacco -Free Hawaii 10/13/2014 COALITION FOR A TOBACCO -FREE HAWAII Policy: • Electronic Smoking Devices are 'smoked' and creates a 'smoke', therefore, e- cigarettes should not be permissible for use in public places and workplaces where smoking is banned. • Prohibiting the use of electronic smoking devices in areas where smoking is now prohibited by law will reduce perception on the part of employees and the general public that the use of e- cigarettes is healthy behavior. Hawaii State Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) Effective October 1, 2014, will prohibit the use of e- cigarettes and other electronic smoking devices in all buildings under its jurisdiction. A public place or workplace that permits the usage of e- cigarettes may be subject to a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act of 2009. Sources: Description: • US Food and Drug Administration. (2009). FDA Warns of Health Risks Posed by E- Cigarettes. Available at http.,Ilwww.fdo.govIForConsumersIConsumerUpdateslucml73401.htm Major Concerns: • Americans Disabilities Act: http://www.nigasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/`05/E-Cigs White Paper.pdf • ESD Vapor is hazardous: Offerman, FJ. 2014. "The Hazards of E- Cigarettes. "ASHRAEJournal, June. • Short and long term exposure to ESD's: Wieslander, G, Norbdck, D; Lindgren, T. "Experimental exposure to propylene glycol mist in aviation emergency training: acute ocular and respiratory effects. " Occupational and Environmental Medicine 58:10 649 -655, 2001. And Choi, H, Schmidbouer,N, Spenglerl; Bornehag, C., "Sources of Propylene Glycol and Glycol Ethers in Air at Home," International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7(12): 4213 -4237, December 2010. • E -Juice heating: Offerman, FJ. 2014. "The Hazards of E-Cigarettes. " ASHRAE Journal, June • Goniewicz, M., K. Knysak, M. Gawron. 2013. "Levels of selected carcinogens and toxicants in vapor from electronic cigarettes." Tobacco Control, March. • E -Juice Flavorants: Offerman, FJ. 2014. "The Hazards of E- Cigarettes. "ASHRAEJournal, June. • CDC study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. http: / /www.niaasp.ora/wp con ten t /uploads/ 2014 /09/ CDC - Press - Release -ECiq- Youth - Use- 9 -2 -14. pdf • Middle School presentation discussion with CTFH West Hawaii Coordinator September 2014. Policy: • ESD's are Smoked: http•/ /www nigasp orp/e- cigarettes- other - tobacco - products -otps /electronic - smoking- devices -e- ci arettes • Hawaii State DAGS: http• / /ags.hawaii.gov /comptrollers- memoranda/ • Americans Disabilities Act: http://www.n4gasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/E-Cigs White Paper.pdf FYI: The industry and users will also raise studies that were conducted from Drexel University and other institutions. The Drexel study was funded by the ESD industry. Global Advisors on SmokeFree Policy (GASP) White Paper http-/ /www niciasp ora /e- cigarettes - other -to bacco -pro ducts -otas/ electronic - smo king -de vices -e- cig are ttes/ Coalition for a Tobacco -Free Hawaii 10/13/2014