The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) announced a series of upcoming public workshops which are designed to focus on electronic cigarettes. The three-part series will consist of presentations, speeches, studies, and opinions from the general public.

The first workshop is scheduled to take place on December 10-11 in Washington D.C. and will cover topics regarding the packaging, labeling and environmental impact of electronic cigarettes. The FDA proposed new regulations earlier this year, one of which was a requirement that all e-liquid products displayed their ingredients. This workshop will likely go cover the pros and cons of this regulation, as well as the environmental impact of these devices.

Tobacco cigarettes are one of the world's most polluted items. In the U.S. alone, there were over 360 billion tobacco cigarettes consumed in 2007. Unfortunately, many of the butts from these cigarettes end up in the forests, lakes, rivers, streams, beaches, roads, and practically everywhere else you can think of. The toxic chemicals they harbor are then released and washed into our nation's water sources. E-cigs, on the other hand, are reusableand therefore don't produce the same "butt" pollution as tobacco cigarettes.

Hopefully, some experts will speak up during the workshop to stress the positive environmental effects of e-cigs when compared to traditional tobacco cigarettes.

While we still don't know the exact topics of interest for the second and third workshops, the FDA did release some details regarding the first workshop. In a press release issued by the administration, it said the first workshop will consist of five different segments:

Device design E-liquid and aerosol constituents Interacts of device design, e-liquid and aerosol constituents Packaging and labeling Environmental impact

"The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Tobacco Products, is announcing a public workshop to obtain information on electronic cigarettes and the public health. The workshop will include presentations and panel discussions about the current state of the science, and will focus on product science, packaging, constituent labeling, and environmental impacts. FDA intends to follow this workshop with two additional electronic cigarette workshops, with one on individual health effects and one on population health effects."

If you wish to participate in the December 10-11 FDA/CTP Scientific Workshop, "Electronic Cigarettes and the Public Health," visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CTP-December-Workshop to register. Upon successful reregistration, you'll receive a confirmation email from WORKSHOP.CTPOS@FDA.HHS.GOV