Before 2024 European elections, TPD II is expected to be substituted by a new directive that will reformulate the European approach towards tobacco-alternative products.
Several documents, scientific studies and survey have been carried out in these years and they will likely be used to characterize the world of vaping. Let us explore in this post a scientific study on the changes in perception of the harmfulness of e-cigarettes before and after TPD.
As the study reports, “despite the scientific evidence that e-cigarettes are less harmful than combustible cigarettes, people’s perceptions of the risks associated with e-cigarette use have been shown to be overestimated, particularly in recent years, including among smokers who could benefit from them. Inaccurate perceptions of the relative risk of e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes, particularly among smokers who are unable or unwilling to completely give up nicotine, may deter smokers from switching to using e-cigarettes….It has been shown that stricter e-cigarette regulations influence perceptions about relative e-cigarette and cigarette harm and product regulations may shape or change beliefs about nicotine products.”
In 2016 the European Union issued the TPD, subsequently transposed by the individual member states; the Directive has led to a tighter regulation of the e-cig sector than in previous years, when the vaping market was substantially unregulated. Some of the key measures that may have impacted harm perceptions for e-cigarettes include the restrictions on packaging, health warnings and advertising and promotion bans.
The aim of the study was to estimate perceptions of the harmfulness of e-cigarettes compared to combustible cigarettes before and after TPD.
It is based on the EUREST-PLUS ITC Europe Surveys; the survey involved approx. 6000 adult smokers from 6 European Countries (Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Spain) interviewed in 2016 (pre-TPD) and in 2018 (post-TPD).
In 2016 more than 70% of the respondents were aware of e-cigarettes; less than 30% of them reported that they perceived e-cigarettes to be less harmful than cigarettes. In 2018, no significant changes in the percentage of respondents aware of e-cig occurred, as in those that perceived e-cigarettes to be less harmful than cigarettes.
The majority of respondents (approx 60%) perceived e-cigarettes to be equally or more harmful than cigarettes in both 2016 and 2018.
Overall, there were no significant changes in the perceptions that e-cigarettes are less, equally or more harmful than cigarettes.
Certainly these evaluations will be repeated considering, for example, the recent flavor bans and the regulation of zero nicotine liquids; these latter even more restrictive measures introduced by some states may have increased the overestimation of the perception of harm from electronic cigarettes.
