Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes, ECIGs) were introduced into the market a decade ago as an alternative to\ntobacco smoking. Whether ECIGs are safe and whether they qualify as smoking cessation tool is currently unknown.\nTheir use has markedly expanded in that period, despite the fact that potential toxic effects of the vapour created\nby the e-cigarette and the nicotine-containing cartridge fluid have been incompletely studied. Marketing targets\ndiverse groups including older smokers but also young people. Whereas the adverse health effects of nicotine\ninhaled by users of ECIGs has been well documented, less is known about the other components. An increasing\nnumber of in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate a range of adverse effects of both the vapour created by ECIGs\nas well as the nicotine-containing fluid. Importantly, these studies demonstrate that toxicity from ECIGs, although\nthis may be less than that caused by tobacco products, not only arises from its nicotine content. Furthermore, there\nare no data on the long-term consequences of ECIG use. The wide range of ECIG products available to consumers\nand the lack of standardisation of toxicological approaches towards ECIG evaluation complicates the assessment of\nadverse health effects of their use. Here we review the current data on preclinical studies on ECIGs describing their\neffects in cell culture and animal models.
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