Adverse health effects of electronic cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) are devices that generate aerosols from liquids by vaporizing. They are used to inhale nicotine and other products and they contain potentially toxic chemicals. However, compared to conventional cigarettes, toxic chemicals are fewer and in lower concentrations. Second-hand exposure to ECIG chemicals can represent a potential risk, but the data are still scarce. Moreover, scientific evidence to support ECIGs as an aid to smoking cessation is still low, due to lack of controlled trials, especially those comparing ECIGs with other stop-smoking treatments such as nicotine replacement therapy. On the contrary, the use of ECIGs may promote excessive nicotine use, especially in adolescents. Animal studies and cell culture experiments have shown that ECIGs can have multiple negative effects. Further, the long-term effects of ECIGs are still unknown, thus there is no evidence that ECIGs are safer than tobacco in the long term, and therefore, negative health effects cannot be ruled out.