Does smoking cigarettes affect your health?

The World Health Organization stated in September 2008 that to its knowledge, "no rigorous, peer-reviewed studies have been conducted showing that the electronic cigarette is a safe and effective nicotine replacement therapy.

WHO does not discount the possibility that the electronic cigarette could be useful as a smoking cessation aid." WHO Tobacco Free Initiative director ad interim Douglas Bettcher stated that claims that electronic cigarettes can help smokers quit need to be backed up by clinical studies and toxicity analyses and operate within the proper regulatory framework. He added: "Until they do that, WHO cannot consider the electronic cigarette to be an appropriate nicotine replacement therapy, and it certainly cannot accept false suggestions that it has approved and endorsed the product.

In 2010, the Tobacco Regulation meeting held in Uruguay came out with warnings about electronic cigarettes. Signatories of the meeting's treaty included representatives of countries and regions such as Brazil, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia, where electronic cigarettes had been banned.

The secretariat of the meeting refused and stated that electronic cigarettes do not violate articles 9 and 10 of the framework convention for tobacco control regarding composition (toxins, carcinogens, harm to self) or emissions (second hand smoke or harm to others). The secretariat stated that the problems regarding electronic cigarettes relate to regulatory issues and not to the work that the convention is tasked with. In the memo, they also mentioned that electronic cigarettes can be considered a medical product only IF the marketer wanted to make medical claims, otherwise they are a tobacco product

FDA (Federal Drud Agancy,USA) Concerns:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has joined other health experts to warn consumers about potential health risks associated with electronic cigarettes.Sold online and in many shopping malls, the devices generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor, and other chemicals. They turn nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user.The FDA is concerned about the safety of these products and how they are marketed to the public,

The agency is concerned that;

e-cigarettes can increase nicotine addiction among young people and may lead kids to try other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death the products may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic to humans because clinical studies about the safety and efficacy of these products for their intended use have not been submitted to FDA, consumers currently have no way of knowing 1) whether e-cigarettes are safe for their intended use, or 2) about what types or concentrations of potentially harmful chemicals or what dose of nicotine they are inhaling when they use these products. FDA has been examining and detaining shipments of e-cigarettes at the border and has found that the products it has examined thus far meet the definition of a combination drug device product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.FDA is planning additional activities to address its concerns about electronic cigarettes.