The market for nicotine-containing products, unlike the tobacco market, is not sufficiently regulated in Russia. This opinion was expressed to Izvestia by Viktor Zykov, a member of the coordinating council for tobacco control under the Ministry of Health.
This is how he commented on the high-profile incident that occurred on June 26 in Khimki. There, a 13-year-old student was taken to the hospital due to the explosion of an electronic cigarette in his hands.
According to Zykov, if cigarettes have long been subject to strict rules, including, among other things, product labeling and composition requirements, then electronic cigarettes and vapes are only partially regulated.
“We do not have technical regulations for nicotine-containing products. There is GOST, but the requirements in it are too weak. In general, if the liquids contained in such products are still somehow periodically checked, then the proper requirements are not put forward for the devices themselves. Of course, it is necessary to approve the development of national technical regulations as soon as possible, approve the requirements, then carry out checks, ”the expert noted.
The incident in Khimki could have happened for only one reason – a low-quality battery, Yuri Dobrovolsky, director of the New Mobile Energy Sources Competence Center of the IPCP RAS, told Izvestia.
“Lithium batteries, which are the ones most commonly used in e-cigarettes, can ignite if heated. If the device is cheap, it will most likely have a battery without fire protection. In rare cases, this can immediately lead to a rupture of the entire body. Moreover, glycerin is used in electronics and vapes: it can also catch fire from heating, ”the expert noted.
Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:
“The light was found: why electronic cigarettes explode”
