Sir, – The precautionary principle is well known in environmental science circles.
It states that when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
Products should not be put on sale if there is a reasonable chance that they could damage human health or the environment.
The report (Paul Cullen, Front page, December 18th) from Queen’s University Belfast shows that vaping is as bad as cigarettes for lung infections. This should be a wake-up call to anyone interested in the health of the public and especially to the Government, which has to date dragged its heels on the subject.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Has the time not come for immediate action to be taken to ban all advertising for these products in a similar way to the ban on cigarettes?
A case could be made to ban the sale of these products because, with their bubble gum and candy flavours, they are now being used as a first step inducement to nicotine addiction for teenagers.
Unless a total ban on e-cigarette advertising is introduced, together with their removal from sale to the public, until it can be proved that they are safe, it could leave the Government open to compensation claims from injured parties. They might successfully maintain that they were injured due to the lack of action by the authorities, who did not use the precautionary principle to protect the public, either as vapers or passive vapers? – Yours, etc,
BOBBY CARTY,
Templeogue, Dublin 6W.