Cigarette Puff: what is it? hazards? nicotine or not?

2022-06-08 17:10:00

The Puff? It’s the latest “gadget” in fashion among college and high school students. This disposable electronic cigarette comes straight from the United States. Of the sweet scents that evoke childhood, colorful packaging, all ready to use: that’s all it takes to seduce young consumers. But despite appearances, this device does present health risks.

What’s the puff?

Cousin of the Juul, the Puff was born in 2019, in the United States, on the initiative of two Californians: Patrick Beltran and Nick Minas, co-CEO of Puff Bar. It’s about a new form of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), for single use. As Professor Daniel Thomas, cardiologist and vice-president of the National Committee for the Fight against Tobacco (CNCT) explains: “these disposable electronic cigarettes work on the same model as conventional electronic cigarettes, except for the detail that they are not not rechargeable. They contain an average of 600 to 700 puffs “. Like any e-cigarette, the puff generates an aerosolwith or without nicotine, intended to be inhaled.

What flavors are available?

Puffs are available in a multitude of tastes, more or less evocative, and this is what makes them attractive: fresh mint, frozen lychee, red fruits, frozen mango, frozen orange, hazelnut, grape, cookie, marshmallow, etc. . As much sweet and fruity flavors that can encourage smoking in good conscience. And yet…

Is there necessarily nicotine in the Puff?

“Most Puff do contain nicotine, says Professor Daniel Thomas. Some even have concentrations of up to 50 milligrams per milliliter, which is prohibited in France, including for classic electronic cigarettes”. An ultra-fertile addictive breeding ground. Besides the dose of nicotine, the habit is very real, and there addiction can quickly settle. “

These are candy cigarettes that are intended to seduce teenagers, believes the cardiologist.

And to add: “We must not forget that in the long term, these disposable cigarettes are intended to retain young customers to encourage him to consume nicotine products in the future. Unfortunately, the figures prove him right: in July 2022, 10% of adolescents aged 13-16 had already tried the Puff and 28% of e-cigarette users had started with a disposable electronic cigarette (source 1).

Is the Puff cigarette dangerous for health?

Consumers don’t have don’t feel like smoking a cigarette, but simply to inhale a fruity vapor. And that’s the rub. Because this e-cigarette with sweet flavors present well risk of nicotine addiction.

A fun introduction to tobacco consumption

Beneath their playful looks, some Puffs can contain much more nicotine than electronic cigarettes intended for adults. Something to worry about health professionals.

“Initially, vaping is a device for reducing the risks associated with tobacco consumption. A substitute, therefore. In the case of the Puff, it is quite the opposite, it is a question of an initiation to tobacco consumption. , emphasizes Professor Daniel Thomas.

“If a teenager uses this product, he can very quickly become addicted to nicotinemuch more addictive than heroin, cocaine or cannabis, and start smoking cigarettes”.

In a column published in The world in April 2023, some twenty doctors, tobacco specialists and environmental activists called for a ban on disposable electronic cigarettes, “as is already the case in Germany, Belgium and Ireland, and to support the bill tabled in this sense by about thirty deputies” (source 2).

And even without nicotine, are the Puffs still harmful?

Yes, answers the vice-president of the CNCT. “The liquid that generates smoke is not toxic, but we cannot say that it is healthy. It is potentially harmful to get used to these devices outside of smoking cessation”.

A position shared by the Academy of Medicine: in an opinion published on February 28, 2023 (source 3), it underlines that “puff induces a phenomenon of addiction to the gesture of vapingwhich can represent a new mode of entry into cigarette addiction, then reinforced by the use of “Puffs” containing nicotine.

The Puff, a significant danger for the ecology

Disposable electronic cigarettes are not only harmful to health, they are also harmful to the environment. After all, they are made of plastic, operate using a lithium battery and are disposable. The Academy of Medicine does not hesitate to speak of “toxic waste which is added to the 4,500 billion cigarette butts thrown away annually in the world”.

Cigarette Puff: what regulations in France?

The sale of electronic cigarettes is prohibited to minors, who however do not seem to have any difficulty in obtaining Puff, at the tobacconist, on the internet, in specialized vaping stores, even in supermarkets (sometimes in the candy department). Control is far from systematic…

The phenomenon is growing so much that the Ministry of Solidarity and Health François Braun is increasing awareness campaigns. He even said he was in favor of his ban at the microphone of France Inter on May 3.

In a press release published on March 17 (source 4), the Ministry of Health recalls that Puffs must comply with the standards relating to vaping products, namely:

contain a nicotine level of less than 20 mg/ml or the ban on and direct or indirect promotion;
transmit a notification of products before they are placed on the market to the competent authorities (the full list of vaping products notified for the French market is available on the ANSES website);
adhere to strict labeling standards;
do without any direct / indirect or promotion.

The sale of these products to minors, like any vaping product, is prohibited, recalls the Ministry of Solidarity and Health.

As for the Academy of Medicine, it calls for a strengthening of the regulations concerning disposable e-cigarettes (increased taxation, neutral packaging, etc.) (source 2).