Pediatric Health Effects of Electronic Cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are increasingly used by middle-school and high-school school students. This comprehensive review provides a primer on the e-cigarette industry and the known health effects in pediatric patients.

The current models of e-cigarettes were developed in China in 2003 and exploded in popularity in the subsequent 4 years. E-cigarettes work by delivering vaporized nicotine to the respiratory tract where it is absorbed. The nicotine solutions in e-cigarettes come in a range of concentrations; actual concentrations vary widely from batch to batch of solutions with the same reported nicotine levels.

Among 15,000 U.S. adolescents in grades 6 to 12, e-cigarette use was highest in those who already smoked cigarettes or …