Are E-Cigarettes Safe? U.S. Senator Calls For Ban On Devices From Planes Following Battery Explosions

As travel picks up for the holiday season, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is looking to keep e-cigarettes from being allowed on planes, according to a report from the Hill.

Blumenthal, the senior senator from Connecticut, urged airlines to prohibit e-cigarettes from being carried on planes due to reports the batteries of the popular smoking devices have been exploding.

“Last week, American Airlines flight traveling from Dallas to Indianapolis was forced to make an emergency landing when an electronic cigarette in a passenger’s carry-on luggage caught on fire mid-flight,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter directed to a number of major airlines.

“This troubling incident is not uncommon, and the increase in e-cigarette use means the likelihood of in-flight fires is only going to grow, creating a terrifying risk for all who rely on safe air travel,” he said.

The letter from Blumenthal was sent Virgin America, United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, Alaska Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Island Air and Sun Country Airlines.

Earlier this year, the Transportation Department (DOT) explicitly banned the use of e-cigarettes on commercial flights. In 2015, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued an interim final rule prohibiting plane passengers from storying e-cigarettes in checked bags and banned charging the devices on board a plane.

Blumenthal’s request would extend that prohibition to e-cigarettes being carried on the plane. The request would require airlines to issue a voluntary ban on the devices.

The senator also sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) requesting a recall of e-cigarette devices that have a history of exploding. He also called for new safety standards to be applied to the rechargable batteries used in the devices.

There have been 134 recorded cases of e-cigarettes exploding, catching fire, or overheating reported to the FDA since 2009.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphone was banned from flights by the DOT earlier this year over fears of the device exploding; airlines around the world followed suit with bans of their own. Several airlines also issued voluntary bans on hoverboards following reports of battery explosions.