Rapid growth in the marketing and use of e-cigarettes is
generating widespread public health debate across the
globe. Designed to provide a comparable smoking experience
to conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes are
battery-powered nicotine delivery devices that provide
doses of nicotine through an aerosol, typically combined
with flavouring and driven by a component such as propylene
glycol [1,2]. Unlike many nicotine replacement
therapies, e-cigarettes are often marketed to smokers ashealthier alternatives to conventional tobacco products,
rather than as aids to ending nicotine dependence [3].
Proponents stress their harm reduction benefits in moving
smokers away from the damaging toxins in conventional
tobacco products, and their potential in helping
them quit smoking altogether [4,5]. However, opponents
highlight their unknown quality, safety and efficacy; their
deleterious impact on the ‘no smoking’ health message;
and their potential to harm children, including as a
possible gateway to cigarette smoking [2,4,6]. Thus, despite
growing consensus among health professionals that
e-cigarettes are a less damaging delivery mechanism for
nicotine than conventional tobacco products [6], a lack
of regulation governing them in many countries means