Electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes) are battery-operated devices that often are designed to look, feel, and taste like tobacco cigarettes. These devices, which may be marketed to young people and sold as a safer alternative to smoking, contain nicotine, flavors, and other substances that are turned into a vapor and are then inhaled.
In July 2009, several public health organizations, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), determined that e-cigarettes contain toxic chemicals and cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and that health claims made by manufacturers of these devices are unproven.
By: Paul Gustafson RN CH
