Electronic Cigarettes
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Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery operated products designed to turn nicotine and other chemicals into a vapor. You then inhale the vapor. These products are often made to look like:
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- Cigarettes \n
- Cigars \n
- Pipes \n
- Pens \n
E-Cigarettes may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic to humans. Because clinical studies about the safety of e-cigarettes have not been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), you have no way of knowing:
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- If they are safe \n
- Which chemicals they contain \n
- How much nicotine you are inhaling \n
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance. Additionally, these products may be attractive to kids. Using e-cigarettes may lead kids to try other tobacco products\u2014including conventional cigarettes\u2014which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death.
\nWith e-cigarettes there are many unknowns, including the unknown health effects of long-term use. Currently, there are no e-cigarettes approved by FDA for therapeutic uses so they cannot be recommended as a cessation aid. For smokers who want to quit cigarettes there are FDA approved treatments which have been proved to be safe and to work, including:
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- Nicotine gum \n
- Nicotine skin patches \n
- Nicotine lozenges \n
- Nicotine oral inhaled products \n
- Nicotine nasal spray \n
- Zyban \n
- Chantix \n
Get more information about quitting.
\nLearn more about:
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- The latest news and events about electronic cigarettes on this FDA page \n
- Electronic cigarette basics on this FDA question and answer page \n
- Reporting adverse events from tobacco products on this FDA page \n
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