Loading...
Use of electronic nicotine delivery devices is a fad that is sweeping the U.S. and poses risks to children and adolescents. An electronic cigarette is a plastic tube with an illuminated orange or blue tip that releases a puff of vaporized liquid nicotine from a cartridge. Using “e-cigarettes” is widely marketed on the Internet as safer (no secondhand smoke and lower nicotine absorption) and better for the environment than smoking cigarettes. In an opinion piece, the authors question the safety of e-cigarettes and urge physicians to warn patients about these devices.
Laboratory analysis conducted by the FDA suggests that e-cigarettes — even those that are labeled nicotine free — deliver trace amounts of diethylene glycol and widely varying am…