Krishnamoorthi’s legislation – called the Ending Nicotine Dependence from Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems Act – would limit e-cigarettes to no more than 20 milligrams per milliliter of nicotine, according to CNBC News.
The United States has no regulations capping the amount of nicotine allowed in e-cigarettes. The introduced legislation would mirror the European Union, which imposes the same cap of 20 milligrams per milliliter. Some e-cigarette brands in the U.S. contain several times that – including 59 mg/ml of nicotine in a 5 percent Juul pod.
Under the proposed legislation, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be given the flexibility to lower the cap even further as well as regulate the design and function of e-cigarettes, reports Reuters.
“As a concerned parent, I am committed to preventing a new generation of nicotine addicts,” Krishnamoorthi, who has been at the helm of a congressional investigation into youth vaping, said in a statement Monday. “Capping the concentration of nicotine in e-cigarettes is integral to ending the youth vaping epidemic by making these products less addictive, less appealing to youth, and less harmful to public health.”
“After all, while flavors hook kids, it’s the nicotine that nets them and pulls them on the boat into a lifelong vaping habit and addiction.”
In September, Democrat Krishnamoorthi and Democratic Senator Dick Durbin formed a bipartisan caucus to combat the “epidemic” of youth vaping, along with Republican Representative Peter King and others.
