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U.S. NEWS Monday 19 deceMber 2016

Senator: Exploding e-cigarette

recalls need to be considered

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. in her pocket in April as she by the FDA may be an un-
Charles Schumer is increas- drove home from a beauty dercount. Just one hospital,
ing the heat on the federal salon. the UW Medicine Regional
government to consider “It was like a firecrack- Burn Center at Harborview
recalling e-cigarette bat- er,” she said, as it seared Medical Center in Seattle,
teries and devices that ex- third-degree burns in her said it has seen more than
plode and catch fire, injur- leg, blasted through her 20 patients with e-ciga-
ing users. charred pants and stuck in rette burns since it started
Schumer, a New York Dem- the dashboard. tracking them informally in In this April 23, 2014 file photo, E-cigarettes appear on display at
ocrat, has called e-ciga- As the use of e-cigarettes October 2015.The industry Vape store in Chicago.
rettes “ticking time bombs” has increased over the past maintains e-cigarettes are Associated Press.
and said they continue to year, similar painful acci- safe when used properly.
cause injuries including se- dents have been recorded The Tobacco Vapor Elec-
vere burns. with greater frequency, tronic Cigarette Associa-
At a press conference Sun- with faulty lithium-ion bat- tion encourages proper re-
day, Schumer cited a re- teries seen as the likely charging of the batteries as
cent Associated Press story culprits. The same types of a way to prevent possible
saying the FDA identified batteries are used safely in injuries.The FDA has said it’s
about 66 explosions in 2015 many consumer electron- reviewing e-cigarettes and
and early 2016 after re- ics, but they’ve been be- will evaluate their batter-
cording 92 explosions from hind fires in hover boards ies, including “amperage,
2009 to September 2015. and smartphones.The AP voltage, wattage, battery
He said he wants the U.S. story said the numbers kept type” and other issues.q
Consumer Product Safety
Commission and the U.S.
Food and Drug Adminis-
tration to figure out why
so many devices, many
from China, are exploding.
He said the recent injuries
are proof federal action is
needed.
“Where there’s smoke,
there’s fire and that seems
to be the case — again and
again — for many popular
e-cigarettes that have in-
jured dozens of people,”
Schumer said. “With any
other product, serious ac-
tion would have been tak-
en and e-cigarettes should
be no exception. Despite
the explosions, no recalls
have been issued. It’s ra-
dio silence from both the
industry and the feds, so
that’s why I’m sounding the
alarm.”E-cigarette user Ka-
trina Williams, a New York
freight manager, said she
wanted a safer alternative
to smoking regular tobac-
co cigarettes and thought
e-cigarettes were the an-
swer — until one exploded