If you routinely follow the news, chances are you have seen or read stories about electronic cigarettes exploding in people’s faces, or in their pockets while the device is charging.
What was once considered a rare occurrence has now turned into a monthly event, if local media reports are to be believed.
These reports have caused the Federal Transportation Department to ban the use of e-cigs on commercial flights. This has many people demanding that some sort of federal regulation be implemented within the electronic cigarette industry.
Electronic cigarettes have been on the market since 2007, but in recent years their popularity has blossomed as more and more people turn to them to give up smoking.
Back in 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that one in four high school students will have tried an e-cig at least once.
At the heart of this explosion problem is the lithium ion battery, which is also used to power things like hoverboards, laptops, and smartphones.
It has long been known that the electrolytes in the batteries can overheat and combust, which is something that has happened in all the aforementioned devices.
The difference with electronic cigarettes is their shape, as the cylindrical design that most have creates a bullet type effect that causes the cigarette or battery to be propelled when the overheating takes place.
The U.S. Fire Administration were the first to report this back in 2014, and their findings are now being proven absolutely correct.
The report that they issued was based on information taken from 25 different media reports that talked about e-cigs exploding between 2009 and 2014.
Of that amount, 80% exploded while being charged, while 2 e-cigs exploded in the mouth of the user.
Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, was quick to point out that the majority of the incidents occurred when people used batteries or chargers not solely intended for use with e-cigs.
He claims that using e-cigarettes in the manner in which they were intended to be used makes them as safe as any other device that relies on a lithium ion battery for power.
Conley believes that electronic cigarettes that do not need an external battery charger are the safest, but he also believes that all varieties are very low-risk when used as directed.
We mentioned hover-boards earlier in this piece, and there is actually a bit of a connection between them and electronic cigarettes.
Neither of them have industry wide safety standards in place, which is something that the general public would like to see changed.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had already floated the idea of placing e-cigs and vapourizers in the same category as cigarettes.
While that has more to do with health concerns, it would also allow them to study the devices further and make regulation changes as necessary.
The Underwriters Laboratory independently consult on safety concerns with all manner of different products. They have created a set of standards for lithium ion batteries, although there is no specific standard for electronic cigarettes.
Recent studies have revealed that almost 60% of people polled are on board with the regulation changes being offered by the FDA.
The government organization has looked at electronic cigarettes, and their findings revealed that they don’t all deliver as promised, with some even being of a very poor quality.
The AVA is not on board with the proposed regulations, though, as it is their contention that since the e-cigs do not contain nicotine, they cannot be regulated in the same way as tobacco products.
Should there be safety standards in place for e-cigs?