Clearing the Air
@clearingtheair.bsky.social
Clearing the air provides multi-language news and analysis on tobacco and nicotine policy, with a European focus.
The new CoEHAR study found zero ROS from flavoured e-liquid aerosols. Cigarette smoke, by contrast, generated huge oxidative stress even at low exposure levels. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/vape-ae...
Vape aerosols show dramatically lower toxicity than cigarette smoke, new CoEHAR study finds
Four popular nicotine e-liquids produced dramatically less toxicity in human lung cells than cigarette smoke. No reactive oxygen species (ROS) - a major marker of oxidative stress - were detected…
clearingtheair.eu
November 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
The new CoEHAR study found zero ROS from flavoured e-liquid aerosols. Cigarette smoke, by contrast, generated huge oxidative stress even at low exposure levels. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/vape-ae...
UK budget - the average vaper will pay over £400 more each year once the new tax hits. For many, vaping was a cheaper, safer alternative. That gap is closing fast. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/en/post/uk-b...
UK Budget 2025: Vaping costs set to rise sharply
Vaping expenses will rise significantly next year following the tax increase confirmed in today’s Autumn Budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her statement to reaffirm that a new excise duty on…
clearingtheair.eu
November 28, 2025 at 10:32 AM
UK budget - the average vaper will pay over £400 more each year once the new tax hits. For many, vaping was a cheaper, safer alternative. That gap is closing fast. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/en/post/uk-b...
Sweden’s youth data is being misused. SFP overstated under 18 use while ignoring the same report’s conclusion that snus carries far lower risk than smoking. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/sfp-you...
SFP youth-use claim about Sweden doesn’t match the data
At a European Parliament hearing last week, the Smoke-Free Partnership (SFP) told MEPs that 29 per cent of Swedish 17-year-old students currently use oral nicotine products. The figure was used to…
clearingtheair.eu
November 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Sweden’s youth data is being misused. SFP overstated under 18 use while ignoring the same report’s conclusion that snus carries far lower risk than smoking. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/sfp-you...
Part 2 of our interview with Dr Derek Yach: he says WHO’s stance on nicotine is “flat earth thinking” and that harm reduction is being blocked by ideology, not science. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/en/post/the-...
The Flat Earth Argument: Derek Yach on WHO, Bloomberg, and the Smoke-Free World
In part 2 of this conversation, Peter Beckett speaks with Dr Derek Yach, former Head of Tobacco Control at the World Health Organization and founding president of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free…
clearingtheair.eu
November 27, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Part 2 of our interview with Dr Derek Yach: he says WHO’s stance on nicotine is “flat earth thinking” and that harm reduction is being blocked by ideology, not science. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/en/post/the-...
MEP perceptions are drifting from the science - @ecigintel finds awareness is up, but so is the belief that vapes and pouches are as harmful as cigarettes. clearingtheair.eu/post/a-third... #harmreduction
A third of MEPs say novel nicotine products are as harmful as smoking
A rising share of MEPs believe novel nicotine products are as harmful as or more harmful than smoking - despite clear scientific evidence that non-combustible alternatives carry far lower risks. The…
clearingtheair.eu
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
MEP perceptions are drifting from the science - @ecigintel finds awareness is up, but so is the belief that vapes and pouches are as harmful as cigarettes. clearingtheair.eu/post/a-third... #harmreduction
New today! Six ways public health messaging on nicotine is missing the mark. Mixed signals, blurred distinctions and risk inflation are confusing the very people who need clarity. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/6-ways-...
6 ways public health messaging is missing the mark
Public health communication around nicotine is full of mixed messages. From blurring key scientific distinctions to issuing guidance that treats very different products as interchangeable, several…
clearingtheair.eu
November 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
New today! Six ways public health messaging on nicotine is missing the mark. Mixed signals, blurred distinctions and risk inflation are confusing the very people who need clarity. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/6-ways-...
“Equal taxation for unequal risks” is the core warning to EU lawmakers. Treating vapes like cigarettes blurs the difference between high and low-risk products. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/economi...
Economists tell EU: equal taxes on vapes and cigarettes erase incentives to switch
Experts warn new tax plan could push smokers toward illicit tobacco instead of safer alternatives Economists warned EU lawmakers today that taxing vaping products and other smoke-free alternatives at…
clearingtheair.eu
November 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
“Equal taxation for unequal risks” is the core warning to EU lawmakers. Treating vapes like cigarettes blurs the difference between high and low-risk products. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/economi...
Youth vaping research leans heavily on susceptibility, but the latest analysis finds it has limited predictive validity. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/youth-v...
Youth vape risk measures may be overstated, suggests new study
Only 51.9 per cent of youth who said they might vape went on to try it within four years. 28.8 per cent of youth who said they definitely wouldn’t vape tried it anyway. The measure did not reliably…
clearingtheair.eu
November 21, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Youth vaping research leans heavily on susceptibility, but the latest analysis finds it has limited predictive validity. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/youth-v...
Belgium’s disposable vape ban flooded schools with unregulated devices. Now the government wants to repeat the approach with flavours. This is not evidence led policy. clearingtheair.eu/post/belgium...
Belgium plans sweeping vape flavour ban amid policy gridlock
Belgium’s federal government is preparing a sweeping ban on all vape flavours except tobacco, a move Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke says is necessary to stem rising youth vaping. But the…
clearingtheair.eu
November 21, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Belgium’s disposable vape ban flooded schools with unregulated devices. Now the government wants to repeat the approach with flavours. This is not evidence led policy. clearingtheair.eu/post/belgium...
Stanton Glantz, a once credible researcher whose high-profile vaping study was retracted after editors found its main claim unsupported, is once again promoting conclusions that do not match the evidence. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/stanton...
Stanton Glantz claim vapes “increase harm” – but the science doesn’t back him up
Stanton Glantz, a high-profile figure in tobacco control, has published a new blog post claiming that vapes “increase harm” and should not be considered a harm reduction tool. The post, titled…
clearingtheair.eu
November 20, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Stanton Glantz, a once credible researcher whose high-profile vaping study was retracted after editors found its main claim unsupported, is once again promoting conclusions that do not match the evidence. #harmreduction clearingtheair.eu/post/stanton...
Iceland, Finland and the US are proving a simple point. When safer nicotine is available, accessible and affordable, smoking drops to historic lows. clearingtheair.eu/post/smoking...
Smoking hits record lows in the U.S. and Nordics as vapes and nicotine pouches take over
Smoking is reaching historic lows across Finland, Iceland, and the United States, with new data showing rapid declines driven by the rise of alternative nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine…
clearingtheair.eu
November 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Iceland, Finland and the US are proving a simple point. When safer nicotine is available, accessible and affordable, smoking drops to historic lows. clearingtheair.eu/post/smoking...
Denmark and the Commission are pushing an EU wide ban on safer nicotine products in Geneva. Member States rejected this. Denmark is defying Europe and the evidence. @Statsmin @FCTCofficial @OliverVarhelyi #FCTCCOP11 clearingtheair.eu/en/post/euro...
Europe agreed not to ban safer nicotine products. Now Denmark wants to ban them anyway.
Denmark and the European Commission want to bind the whole of the EU to banning vapes and nicotine pouches, according to negotiating documents circulated this evening and seen by Clearing the Air.…
clearingtheair.eu
November 19, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Denmark and the Commission are pushing an EU wide ban on safer nicotine products in Geneva. Member States rejected this. Denmark is defying Europe and the evidence. @Statsmin @FCTCofficial @OliverVarhelyi #FCTCCOP11 clearingtheair.eu/en/post/euro...
Minister Casey Costello says the index rewards hostility to industry, not health outcomes. The numbers prove her point, New Zealand is delivering world leading declines in smoking. clearingtheair.eu/post/nz-heal...
NZ health minister commended for science-based vaping stance
New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister Casey Costello has been praised internationally for rejecting what she called a “ridiculous” ranking that penalises the country despite its world-leading…
clearingtheair.eu
November 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Minister Casey Costello says the index rewards hostility to industry, not health outcomes. The numbers prove her point, New Zealand is delivering world leading declines in smoking. clearingtheair.eu/post/nz-heal...
Let’s be clear. GATC is lying to COP delegates. The strongest independent evidence we have shows vaping improves quit rates. Cochrane confirms it. Cancer Research UK confirms it. GATC simply chooses to ignore the science. clearingtheair.eu/post/cop-day...
COP Day 3 bulletin: GATC lies about harm reduction and quitting
The Global Alliance for Tobacco Control (GATC) - which coordinates anti-nicotine NGOs at the WHO’s Conference of the Parties on tobacco control - has written to all COP delegates falsely claiming…
clearingtheair.eu
November 19, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Let’s be clear. GATC is lying to COP delegates. The strongest independent evidence we have shows vaping improves quit rates. Cochrane confirms it. Cancer Research UK confirms it. GATC simply chooses to ignore the science. clearingtheair.eu/post/cop-day...
Who control's the @WHO? Majority of Tobacco Control NGO's are personally bankrolled by Mike Bloomberg, how can a single person be allowed this much unchecked influence? clearingtheair.eu/en/post/echo...
Echo chamber? More than half of WHO’s accredited tobacco control NGOs underwritten by Mike Bloomberg
At least 15 of the 29 NGOs were either created by Michael Bloomberg’s foundations, Bloomberg Philanthropies or the Bloomberg Family Foundation; or receive significant funding from his foundations,…
clearingtheair.eu
November 18, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Who control's the @WHO? Majority of Tobacco Control NGO's are personally bankrolled by Mike Bloomberg, how can a single person be allowed this much unchecked influence? clearingtheair.eu/en/post/echo...
New Zealand has one of the lowest smoking rates on earth at 6.8 per cent, yet @WHO linked groups are attacking it for embracing harm reduction. They are fighting a manufactured enemy at the expense of public health. #COP11 #FCTC clearingtheair.eu/en/post/cop-...
COP 11: The “dirty ashtray” award goes to…New Zealand?
New Zealand - which has some of the world’s lowest smoking rates and highest cigarette taxes - has been given the “dirty ashtray” award by the Global Alliance on Tobacco Control (GATC) in a move that…
clearingtheair.eu
November 18, 2025 at 10:42 AM
New Zealand has one of the lowest smoking rates on earth at 6.8 per cent, yet @WHO linked groups are attacking it for embracing harm reduction. They are fighting a manufactured enemy at the expense of public health. #COP11 #FCTC clearingtheair.eu/en/post/cop-...
🚨 New COPD vaping study under fire. Italian respiratory experts say the meta-analysis is riddled with flaws and confuses smoking harm with vaping harm. Read more → clearingtheair.eu/en/post/stud... #HarmReduction #Vaping #Science
Study linking vapes to COPD faces criticism for flawed methods
Italian researchers argue that a recent meta-analysis overstated the evidence linking vaping to COPD. They say most studies failed to adjust properly for smoking history - the main cause of COPD. The…
clearingtheair.eu
November 18, 2025 at 9:50 AM
🚨 New COPD vaping study under fire. Italian respiratory experts say the meta-analysis is riddled with flaws and confuses smoking harm with vaping harm. Read more → clearingtheair.eu/en/post/stud... #HarmReduction #Vaping #Science
Ireland can protect young people and help smokers quit, but only if safer alternatives remain available for adults. clearingtheair.eu/post/ireland...
#PublicHealth #HarmReduction #NicotinePouches
#PublicHealth #HarmReduction #NicotinePouches
Ireland weighing nicotine pouch ban, says chief medical officer
Ireland’s Department of Health is considering new restrictions on nicotine pouches as part of its efforts to curb nicotine use among young people. The proposal, which could extend existing tobacco…
clearingtheair.eu
November 17, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Ireland can protect young people and help smokers quit, but only if safer alternatives remain available for adults. clearingtheair.eu/post/ireland...
#PublicHealth #HarmReduction #NicotinePouches
#PublicHealth #HarmReduction #NicotinePouches
🚨 Danish youth smoking hits a record low: just 2.7% now smoke daily, down from 15.4% in 2014. The switch to safer nicotine is happening, despite policymakers' best efforts. #HarmReduction #Vaping #Nicotine Read more → clearingtheair.eu/post/denmark...
Denmark sees dramatic drop in youth smoking rates as vaping increases
Cigarette smoking among Danish youth has fallen to its lowest level on record, according to a new national survey from Aarhus University’s Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research. The UngMap 2025 study,…
clearingtheair.eu
November 17, 2025 at 9:59 AM
🚨 Danish youth smoking hits a record low: just 2.7% now smoke daily, down from 15.4% in 2014. The switch to safer nicotine is happening, despite policymakers' best efforts. #HarmReduction #Vaping #Nicotine Read more → clearingtheair.eu/post/denmark...
Only 12% of smokers now know vapes are safer than cigarettes. The rest have been talked out of the truth, and out of quitting. Read more → #HarmReduction #Vaping #Science clearingtheair.eu/post/most-sm...
Most smokers now wrongly believe vaping is more dangerous than cigarettes
The majority of smokers in the UK now believe vaping is just as harmful - or even more harmful - than smoking tobacco, despite strong evidence that the opposite is true. New figures from Our World in…
clearingtheair.eu
November 14, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Only 12% of smokers now know vapes are safer than cigarettes. The rest have been talked out of the truth, and out of quitting. Read more → #HarmReduction #Vaping #Science clearingtheair.eu/post/most-sm...
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: EU Member States have blocked the Commission’s push for bans on safer nicotine products at COP11. The word “ban”… has itself been banned. Huge win for harm reduction. clearingtheair.eu/post/exclusi... #HarmReduction #COP11 #Vaping
EXCLUSIVE: EU won’t push for bans at WHO Tobacco Control summit in blow for Commission – full document
EU Member States have today agreed not to push for bans on safer nicotine products at the WHO’s bi-annual tobacco control summit, COP 11, after a large group of countries refused to accept the…
clearingtheair.eu
November 14, 2025 at 9:34 AM
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: EU Member States have blocked the Commission’s push for bans on safer nicotine products at COP11. The word “ban”… has itself been banned. Huge win for harm reduction. clearingtheair.eu/post/exclusi... #HarmReduction #COP11 #Vaping
Paternalist Putin has added another corker to his ever-growing list of poor decisions, signalling support for a national vape ban. clearingtheair.eu/en/post/puti...
Putin backs plan for total vape ban in Russia
Russian President and noted germaphobe Vladimir Putin has backed a proposal to outlaw vapes nationwide. During a visit to a sports and education center in Samara on Thursday, Putin responded…
clearingtheair.eu
November 13, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Paternalist Putin has added another corker to his ever-growing list of poor decisions, signalling support for a national vape ban. clearingtheair.eu/en/post/puti...
From vape bin to powerwall ⚡️ A UK engineer has turned 500 disposable vapes into a working home battery that powers his house and workshop. Waste to watts, literally. clearingtheair.eu/post/uk-engi...
UK engineer powers home using 500 recycled vapes
A UK engineer and YouTuber has repurposed 500 disposable vapes into a working powerwall capable of running both his home and workshop. The project, created by Chris Doel, uses lithium-ion batteries…
clearingtheair.eu
November 12, 2025 at 12:17 PM
From vape bin to powerwall ⚡️ A UK engineer has turned 500 disposable vapes into a working home battery that powers his house and workshop. Waste to watts, literally. clearingtheair.eu/post/uk-engi...
Criminalising nicotine pouches with tougher penalties than cocaine was always absurd. French MPs now agree — proposing regulation, not repression. #HarmReduction #NicotinePouches #PublicHealth clearingtheair.eu/post/french-...
French MPs challenge nicotine pouch ban in new budget battle
France’s planned ban on nicotine pouches from next spring could be in jeopardy after a series of amendments were tabled in the National Assembly aimed at softening or replacing the measure. The…
clearingtheair.eu
November 11, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Criminalising nicotine pouches with tougher penalties than cocaine was always absurd. French MPs now agree — proposing regulation, not repression. #HarmReduction #NicotinePouches #PublicHealth clearingtheair.eu/post/french-...
Correlation isn’t causation. One researcher says claims that vaping slowed youth smoking rely on fragile assumptions, not real-world evidence. #TobaccoControl #HarmReduction
clearingtheair.eu/post/expert-...
clearingtheair.eu/post/expert-...
Expert debunks claims that vaping slowed smoking declines down under
A new expert analysis has challenged claims that vaping has slowed progress in cutting youth smoking rates in Australia and New Zealand. Recent academic papers from the University of Sydney’s…
clearingtheair.eu
November 10, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Correlation isn’t causation. One researcher says claims that vaping slowed youth smoking rely on fragile assumptions, not real-world evidence. #TobaccoControl #HarmReduction
clearingtheair.eu/post/expert-...
clearingtheair.eu/post/expert-...