Today, Assemblymember Monica P. Wallace (D-Lancaster) announced that she is introducing legislation to require vapor and e-cigarette products to include a listing of ingredients on their retail packaging. Wallace’s bill comes as reports are mounting of people across the country getting sick and dying from vapor products. Currently, the ingredients in vapor products like pods and e-juice are not required to be disclosed under law.

“It’s shocking that the vaping industry has gone this far without having to disclose to consumers what is in their products,” said Assemblymember Wallace. “While health professionals continue to study the long term effects of vaping, I’m calling for this legislation to be passed into law so that consumers can see for themselves exactly what they’re putting into their bodies.”

In addition to requiring that vapor products disclose their ingredients, Wallace’s bill would also direct the state Department of Health to develop regulations for the disclosure, testing, and reporting of those ingredients. Without disclosure of ingredients to the medical community, researchers are currently forced to work backwards to uncover what is in vaping products and what effects those ingredients are having on consumers.^[1]

“When you talk to medical professionals who are studying vapor products and the effects they have on users, it becomes more apparent that this is still a grossly under-regulated industry and one in which consumers still know little about,” noted Wallace.

In the wake of high profile cases, public concern over what is in the products being ingested by people, especially young users, has grown exponentially. As of October 1, 2019, the Center for Disease Control reported 1,080 lung injury cases and 18 confirmed deaths associated with the use of vaping products across the nation. Of those cases, the CDC reports that approximately 80% of the patients are under the age of 35, and 16% of the patients are under the age of 18.^[2]

Earlier this year, Wallace was part of the successful legislative push to raise the age to purchase tobacco and nicotine products from 18 to 21, citing it as a common sense solution to limiting the supply of such products within high schools.

“Vaping is undoubtedly a growing issue, particularly among teenagers. Last year, the United States surgeon general warned that vaping among young people has become an ‘epidemic’ and asked parents of young people to educate themselves about the dangers of e-cigarettes. Requiring disclosure of harmful ingredients is a common sense way to help inform the public about the negative health effects these products may pose,” concluded Wallace.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2019/07/31/certain-juul-ingredients-could-inflame-airways-study-suggests/#30a712e03a36

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html