“The science around the safety of E cigarettes has not been demonstrated,” the World Health Organisation&#39 s Glenn Thomas told ITV&#39 s Tonight.

“We still need more research to know and understand what sort of impact on health.. these E cigarettes are having.”

“We know that a lot of the toxins which are consumed through E cigarettes have not been adequately researched,” he added.

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3 27 am, Thu 23 Jan 2014 Manufacturer Unregulated E cigarettes &#x27 vary in quality&#x27 Nicotine liquid seen in an electronic cigarette. Credit ABACA

Manufacturers of electronic cigarettes have told ITV&#39 s Tonight their industry is not regulated and there can be varying quality of products.

Long Xiaobing, CEO of an E Cig company in Shenzhen, Southern China makes ten million electronic cigarettes a year.

He told Tonight “Currently, lots of products in this market are not regulated and products vary in quality.”

Another E cigarette maker, Hua Ou, said “There is no standard available to regulate them. So the market is in a bit of chaos now. Currently many E cigarettes are made quite similar, with low quality. These are very serious problems.”

Both manufacturers insist their own products are good quality, yet they are well placed to make judgements on the wider market.

Watch The Rise of the E Cigarette Tonight at 7.30pm on Thursday on ITV

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3 20 am, Thu 23 Jan 2014 Concerns surround toxins in electronic cigarettes An estimated 1.3 million people in the UK now use electronic cigarettes. Credit PA

As more people turn to electronic cigarettes in a bid to kick their smoking habit, Tonight explores the growing concerns surrounding the nicotine alternative.

An estimated 1.3 million people in the UK now use electronic cigarettes, which some researchers say are helping to save millions of lives but Tonight has found eight years after the products first appeared in the country, there appears to be no adequate regulation in Britain, Europe or beyond.

Glenn Thomas of the World Health Organisation told the programme “We still need more research to know and understand what sort of impact on health and people these E cigarettes are having.

“We know that a lot of the toxins which are consumed through E cigarettes have not been adequately researched.”

Watch The Rise of the E Cigarette Tonight at 7.30pm on Thursday on ITV

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Regulation push catching up with e-cigarettes – chicago tribune

The deadly crusade against e-cigarettes

“My friends have noticed a difference,” Altman said while sampling assorted flavors at Smoque Vapours, an e cigarette shop in the Loop. “They’ll say, ‘You smell good,’ instead of, ‘You stink.'”

The fast growing e cigarette industry has hitched its future to such testimonials, pitching its product as a safer and cheaper alternative to tobacco cigarettes. So far the business has escaped the reach of regulators, but from Washington, D.C., to the Chicago suburbs, that is changing quickly.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears poised to label e cigarettes a “tobacco product,” a distinction that would give the agency power over their marketing, manufacture and sale. North suburban Mundelein just passed an ordinance banning the sale of e cigarettes to anyone younger than 18, and on Jan. 1 a similar law will take effect statewide.

Evanston, meanwhile, has gone even further, banning the use of e cigarettes anywhere smoking is prohibited.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of long term research on this, but we really wanted to make sure we were on the front end to protect our residents,” said Carl Caneva, assistant director of Evanston’s health department.

The lack of regulation has turned e cigarettes into a commercial Wild West, where basement chemists and giant corporations alike concoct mixtures that taste like everything from peach schnapps to Mountain Dew. The novel flavors concern anti smoking advocates, who note that teen e cigarette use recently doubled within a single year.

“I don’t think that there’s any question that flavors appeal to young people,” said Danny McGoldrick of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. “It’s just another way to help introduce them to the habit.”

Researchers aren’t sure of all the chemicals released by the products, but some say there’s ample reason for worry.

The American Lung Association, which favors strict regulation, cites a recent study that found chemicals such as formaldehyde and acetone in exhaled e cigarette vapor.

“We’re very concerned because we don’t know what’s in e cigarettes or what the health consequences of them might be,” said Erika Sward, the lung association’s assistant vice president for national advocacy. “Frankly, until the FDA begins its oversight of these products, I think everyone needs to proceed very cautiously.”

E cigarettes use tiny atomizers to turn nicotine infused liquids into an aerosol, which is inhaled by the user. They’ve been sold in the United States since the mid 2000s, but the Electronic Cigarette Industry Group says sales have boomed in recent years, turning the gadgets into a $2 billion a year business.

The group’s president, Eric Criss, said e cigarettes are intended to be a safer alternative for people who already smoke.

“We feel very strongly that we not be taxed and regulated as a tobacco product because our goal as an industry is to distinguish ourselves from traditional tobacco cigarettes,” he said. “We believe there’s a ladder of harm. Cigarettes are at the top of that, and our goal is to get people to move down that ladder.”