Far From Harmless: Study Claims Electronic Cigarettes Are Just As Bad As The Real Thing

E-cigarettes were invented in China in 2003 after the smoking ban was imposed. Since then the industry has grown rapidly across the world and remains largely unregulated.

A new study shows that e-cigarettes contain carcinogenic chemical and toxic properties, proving that they are just as damaging to your health as smoking a normal cigarette.

The research published in French magazine 60 Millions Consommateurs (60 million consumers) was carried out by the National Consumers’ Institute revealed that some electornic cigarettes were just as dangerous for the health as tobacco.

Some e-cigarettes contain chemicals that make them as harmful as the convential cigarette.

Ten different rechargeable and disposable e-cigarette models were tested, and three out of the ten proved to have parallel levels of carcinogenic compound formaldehyde with that of an ordinary cigarette.

Editor Thomas Laurenceau, wrote: “They are not as harmless as they pretend to be. That’s why it’s important to understand that it’s not a game, don’t take it lightly, it’s not perfectly healthy.” 

“We detected a significant quantity of carcinogenic molecules in the vapour of these cigarettes which have thus far gone undetected.”

“The highly toxic molecule acrolein was also detected in the vapours of e-cigarettes, sometimes at levels even higher than in traditional cigarettes.” 

An estimated one million people use the electronic sticks in France. In May the French health minister announced that the ban on smoking in public was being extending to include the devices. 

“It's not a reason to ban them, but a good reason to control them,” Laurenceau added.