Vapers may have found an unlikely ally in their war against Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that could wipe out the e-cigarette industry.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) fears FDA rules requiring e-cigarettes already on the market undergo vigorous testing will include experiments on animals, reports Watchdog.

PETA claims the FDA is urging e-cigarette producers to meet with its Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) to decide if animal testing is “appropriate” for e-cigarette products.

“The CTP will expect manufacturers to conduct animal tests in support of marketing applications,” Joseph Manuppello, senior research associate for PETA, told Watchdog.

The part of the FDA’s deeming rules that has sparked the most controversy is the so-called “predicate date” of Feb. 17, 2007. All vapor products that came on the market after this date, which is almost all of them, will have to go through the onerous and expensive Pre-Market Tobacco Application process (PMTA).

PMTAs can cost millions of dollars per product and around 1,700 hours of paperwork. Industry experts and the FDA’s own analysis from 2014 estimate 99 percent of products on the market won’t even be put through this process and will be taken off store shelves within two years. (RELATED: GOP Senator Challenges FDA On Crushing E-Cig Regulations)

PETA is concerned animal testing for e-cigarette products could prove harmful if animals are subjected to hours of e-cig vapor.

PETA has long opposed using animals to test regular tobacco products. “In tests that many people don’t realize are still being conducted, animals are forced to breathe cigarette smoke for up to six hours straight, every day, for as long as three years,” PETA says on its website.

“Since the FDA was given authority to regulate tobacco in 2009, PETA has submitted scientific comments on numerous occasions urged the agency not to require tests on animals and allow tobacco companies to submit data from modern non-animal safety tests.”

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