Misinformation about tobacco harm reduction, though sadly rife, is especially damaging when it comes from the most senior health officials. That’s exactly what happened when European Commissioner of Health and Animal Welfare Olivér Varhelyi spoke about vapes at a recent meeting with members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
Calling Commissioner Varhelyi “out of touch with the basic science on safer nicotine products,” European advocates have requested that he meet with scientific experts and consumers who could correct his misperceptions.
This comes as anti-vape policies unfold around the European Union, which experts fear will prolong smoking-related disease and death.
On May 13, at a meeting of the European Parliament’s environment committee, Varhelyi claimed that vaping “has created completely new health risks that are comparable to, or even greater than smoking itself.”
That comparison with smoking is utterly false. The benefits of switching from combustible cigarettes to vapes are well documented by researchers and prestigious institutions. The most notable attempt to put a figure on it estimated that vapes are 95 percent safer than cigarettes.
The supposed evidence that Varhelyi cited in support of his contention included articles claiming that vaping causes “popcorn lung”—a persistent myth that has long been debunked.
“To hear the commissioner repeat the myth that vaping causes popcorn lung is quite concerning, especially as it was said during a committee meeting with MEPs.”
On May 23, European Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (ETHRA), a consumer organization advocating on behalf of the millions of people who use nicotine in the EU, responded by sending a letter to Varhelyi, criticizing his “factually incorrect and baseless assertion that vaping causes popcorn lung.”
“To hear the commissioner repeat the myth that vaping causes popcorn lung is quite concerning, especially as it was said during a committee meeting with MEPs,” ETHRA Partner Damian Sweeney told Filter.
“Popcorn lung” was originally observed in factory workers exposed to a chemical called diacetyl, used to give popcorn a buttery taste. Extreme exposure to diacetyl has been associated with the lung disease bronchitis obliterans. However, only trace amounts of diacetyl have ever been used in some vaping e-liquids; diacetyl is banned as an ingredient in many places—including under the EU’s Tobacco Products Directive, though this is not always consistently enforced.
Even where it is present, the mere presence of a chemical does not equate to a quantity sufficient to cause harm. And there have been zero confirmed cases of vaping causing “popcorn lung.”
ETHRA’s letter notes that “the most likely way for diacetyl to emerge in vapes in the EU is through unregulated illicit trade, and not legally available nicotine vapes.” And illicit trade, as the letter points out, “will be driven by excessive and counterproductive EU regulations, such as flavor bans, that deny adult consumers the products they wish to use.”
“The concern for us as consumers is that false statements could influence MEP decisions and lead to further restrictions or even bans on safer nicotine products.”
It’s anticipated that the EU Commission may publish proposed revisions to the Tobacco Products Directive, the law regulating the manufacturing and sale of tobacco and related products in the bloc, in the next year. If that happens, MEPs will have the opportunity to discuss and amend the proposals in the committee stage before a full vote on the legislation.
“The concern for us as consumers is that false statements such as ‘vaping causes popcorn lung’ could influence MEP decisions and lead to further restrictions or even bans on safer nicotine products,” Sweeney said. “Policy decisions should be based on science and facts—not fiction.”
To point Commissioner Varhelyi toward the former, ETHRA has requested a meeting with him, so he can hear from people who use safer nicotine products and from scientists with extensive tobacco harm reduction research experience.
“If the Commission cares about how policy decisions affect EU citizens, then they absolutely should meet with groups like ETHRA, who represent millions of consumers,” Sweeney said. “However, I would say that a meeting is unlikely but not impossible.”
Ironically, as tobacco harm reduction proponent Peter Beckett has noted, Vahelyi flagged the dangers of misleading health information while seeking election for his current role in 2024.
“Protecting European citizens from harmful effects of disinformation will be top priority for me, including in the area of health,” said the Hungarian nominee in a written statement to MEPs.
He’s far from alone in spreading it. In February, EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told a different parliamentary committee that “vaping kills,” as he advocated for higher nicotine taxes.
As health commissioner, one of Vahelyi’s responsibilities is the European Beating Cancer Plan, which aims to reduce cancer rates by cutting smoking to below 5 percent of the EU population by 2040.
Smoking is the EU’s biggest cause of deaths from cancer. Meanwhile there is no good evidence that vaping causes cancer in humans, and widespread evidence that vapes prompt mass smoking cessation in countries where they are readily available.
Photograph of Varhelyi in 2019 by European Parliament via Flickr/Creative Commons 2.0