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Lawsuit Exposes Cancer-Causing Chemicals from E-cigarettes (Center for Environmental Health, Press release)

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On November 19, 2015, the Center for environmental Health (CEH) issued a press release announcing that the national nonprofit health watchdog has filed lawsuits against leading tobacco companies and other e-cigarette companies for failing to warn consumers about exposure from e-cigarettes to nicotine and/or both of the two cancer- causing chemicals, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, found by independent testing of the companies’ products, as required by California law.

In all, the non-profit has launched legal actions against more than 60 companies, including RJ Reynolds (Vuse brand), Fontem/Imperial Tobacco (blu brand), NJOY and 12 others. CEH also initiated new legal actions against four more e-cigarette companies, including Logic, a division of Japan Tobacco, and Fin, a division of Electronic Cigarettes International, a public company with $100 million in annual sales.

Initial testing for formaldehyde and acetaldehyde on 97 e-cigarettes found that 90% of the companies had at least one product that produced high levels of one or both chemicals, above the state safety limit. A test on one e-cigarette found the level of formaldehyde was more than 470 times higher than the California safety standard.

The two chemicals are known to cause cancer and are also linked to genetic damage, birth defects, and reduced fertility. Under California’s strong Prop 65 consumer protection law, companies must warn consumers when their products expose users to chemicals that can cause cancer and/or birth defects.

Read the full CEH Press release here.