Helmholtz Association

14. May 2013 German Cancer Research Centre

Unlike conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes do not produce thousands of toxic and carcinogenic substances. Nevertheless, they are not harmless. They contain, as their main ingredient, a substance that irritates the airways, usually along with toxic, addictive nicotine and some carcinogenic substances. In addition, they frequently have various technical flaws. Nevertheless, electronic cigarettes are currently sold unregulated as lifestyle products without any appropriate quality control, turning consumers into involuntary experimental subjects. The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) has compiled and analyzed available scientific data on product characteristics, potential health risks and prevalence of the products as well as their potential usefulness in smoking cessation in its latest report entitled “Electronic Cigarettes – An Overview”. According to this report, the electronic cigarette is not a safe product.

Electronic Cigarettes - An Uncontrolled Experiment with Consumers

Unlike conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes do not produce thousands of toxic and carcinogenic substances. Nevertheless, they are not harmless. They contain, as their main ingredient, a substance that irritates the airways, usually along with toxic, addictive nicotine and some carcinogenic substances. In addition, they frequently have various technical flaws. Nevertheless, electronic cigarettes are currently sold unregulated as lifestyle products without any appropriate quality control, turning consumers into involuntary experimental subjects. The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) has compiled and analyzed available scientific data on product characteristics, potential health risks and prevalence of the products as well as their potential usefulness in smoking cessation in its latest report entitled “Electronic Cigarettes – An Overview”. According to this report, the electronic cigarette is not a safe product.

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12.06.2013