E-cigarettes are a relatively new product that contain no tobacco, produce no smoke but instead vaporize small amounts of liquid nicotine, simulating the experience of smoking without the presence of all the additives known to be so deadly in traditional tobacco products. Many claim that they are a far healthier alternative to smoking, but experts do not all agree on this assertion. Research is in its infancy, making many experts cautious to express optimism about e-cigarettes as a healthy replacement for smoking.

There are some known risks to using e-cigarettes. The nicotine contained in e-cigarettes is highly addictive and the current lack of regulation not only allows children access to e-cigarettes but makes it easier for companies to market their products to children. Advertising on television and radio, the addition of flavors and the fact that companies are allowed to not only sell, but give away their products to minors greatly increases the risk of an addiction that would last a life-time.

Very little research has been done to determine whether or not the e-cigarettes are as toxic as tobacco products, though it is well established that nicotine itself can be quite toxic. Calls to poison control regarding the nicotine poisoning from e-cigarettes have been recorded by the CDC to be rising significantly, many of which involve very young children. There is a small amount of ongoing research that indicates that cell mutations that cause cancer can still occur even though the vapor released from e-cigarettes contains up to 450 times fewer toxic chemicals than smoke.

As a smoking cessation device, there seems to be mixed results. Italian researchers found that e-cigarettes could be used similarly to a nicotine patch, but that the rate of smokers who successfully quit smoking remained around 10 percent. Some alternate findings suggest that the use of e-cigarettes can actually lead to greater tobacco consumption on a daily basis.

The e-cigarette industry is growing rapidly and the research needed to understand the health implications has not had time to be sufficiently carried out. Early results indicate that while there are certain benefits to vaporized nicotine over smoking traditional cigarettes, there are several risk that could lead to deadly complications. Being allowed to create addiction in adolescents has been shown to hinder their development and evidence suggests that e-cigarettes are not replacing tobacco consumption enough to protect from the devastating consequences to individual health.