Nicotine levels among young Juul users greater than traditional cigarette users

According to data published in the publication, patients aged 12 to 21 who used Juul and other recent pod-based electronic cigarette devices, which look like USB keys, had higher nicotine levels. Tobacco control.

"The pods are compact, lightweight, ultraportable and easy to use discreetly. The popularity of these devices has increased over the past year, especially a brand, Juul. Maciej Lukasz Goniewicz, doctorate Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York, and his colleagues wrote. "However, to date, there is no data on nicotine exposure in young people who use pod systems."

The researchers analyzed urine samples from 38 patients who reported using pods at present. Goniewicz and colleagues found that the median urinary cotinine concentration was 244.8 ng / mL (interquartile range [IQR]8.4-1.255.8), or more than 155.2 ng / mL (IQR, 68.8-579.2) previously reported in 55 adolescents aged 13 to 19 years who reported smoking regular cigarettes on a regular basis.

"Clinicians need to know and educate their patients about the risks of long-term sequelae associated with the use of electronic cigarettes, especially pods. Public health advocates and regulators must act now to restrict young people's access to e-cigarettes before decades of progress in tobacco control is canceled, "the researchers wrote.

Patients aged 12 to 21 who used Juul and other recently developed pod-based electronic cigarette devices that looked like USB sticks had higher levels of nicotine in their urine than traditional combustible cigarettes.

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The growing trend of using Juul and nicotine delivery systems by underage smokers has also attracted the attention of the FDA and Scott Gottlieb, MD, commissioner of the FDA, who announced in April that the agency was planning a large-scale crackdown against the sale of these products in retail stores and online, as well as documents on marketing and research carried out by the manufacturers. – by Janel Miller

Disclosures:
Goniewicz claims to have received honoraria for serving on a Johnson & Johnson Advisory Board and a Pfizer Research Grant, as a member of the National Committee of Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine for the University of Ottawa. review of the health effects of the drafting of this committee's report. The other authors do not report any relevant financial information.