E-Cigarette or vaping is no less dangerous than actual smoking as cancer-causing components were found on certain brands by experts, leading to a discouragement of use and ban in certain countries such as France.

French Researchers Forbids E-Cigarette

French Health Minister Marisol Touraine wants to ban e-cigarettes on public places and must be subject under the same measures applied on tobacco, restricting sale to individuals under 18 years of age.

"The e-cigarette is not an ordinary product. We need to apply the same measures as there are for tobacco. That means making sure it cannot be smoked in public places, that its sale is restricted to over 18 years old and that firms are not allowed to advertise the products," according to the minister, quoted by The Local France daily.

The said electronic devices have been found with nicotine in May 2011 and the French health agency AFSSAPS advised residents to avoid such products which may cause damaging side effects on long-term usage.

"These electronic cigarettes could also lead children to start smoking and the best way to give up the habit is to patch which releases nicotine gently and will reduce the addiction," Professor Bertrand Dautzenberg told Europe1.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration

The United States Food and Drug Administration or USFDA, Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis, tested 19 varieties of electronic cigarette cartridges in May 2009 from two vendors - NJOY and Smoking Everywhere. A poisonous liquid was detected in one of the cartridges from Smoking Everywhere. Another component called tobacco-specific nitrosamines were also found in all cartridges from one brand and two of the cartridges from the other brand. These tobacco-specific nitrosamines are known for causing cancer in the body.

In some e-cigarettes, anabasine, myosmine and B-nicotyrine were also found which are all harmful to humans, according to the majority of the samples tested. However, these chemicals are detected in exhaled vapour.

The USFDA discouraged the use of electronic cigarettes in July 2009 due to rising concerns and easy marketing to youth without appropriate health warnings.

E-Cigarettes

The famous electronic replacement for tobacco allows user to replicate smoking in any places without the smell of tobacco and reduced risk of carcinogenic components found in regular cigarettes. E-Cigarettes have received support from certain groups such the American Association of Public Health Physicians for helping save lives against tobacco-related illnesses.

"Because the possibility exists to save the lives of four million of the eight million current adult American smokers who will otherwise die of a tobacco-related illness over the next twenty years," according the association.

Effects on Society

Arguments continue to allow and tolerate usage of electronic cigarettes around the world. Health officials are both concerned about the unknown health impact of these devices and the opposite message on why stop smoking or cessation.

"People are inhaling some type of chemical vaporised compound into their lungs without really knowing what's in it. This is a buyer stay away, a buyer health hazard, potentially," said Mike Feinstein M.D., spokesman of the American Lung Association.

The famous smoking replacement device was invented in China in 2003 with liquid nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerine and polyethylene glycol 400 designed to replicate the smoking sensation in regular tobacco.