The electronic cigarette industry has exploded over the past few year , with sales in the United States climbing by a massive2,000%in just four years . While often strike to be much healthier than smoke veritable cigarettes , due to the infancy of the technology there is just no data as to the long - term effects on human health . This has cause a massive rift to mould between proponents of e - cigarettes   and those against them .

New enquiry , published inToxicology in Vitro , appear to demonstrate that the evaporation produced by e - coffin nail has no cytotoxic , or cell killing , effect on human airway tissue paper , having   a similar effect to that of   air . This is the first study to look at the burden of e - cig vapor onin vitromodels that so closely mimic human respiratory tract tissue .

“ By apply a combination of a smoking automaton and a lab - based run using respiratory tissue , it was possible to exhibit the ability to induce and measure aerosol irritancy and to show that the unlike Es - fag aerosols used in this field of study have no cytotoxic effect on human airway tissue paper , ” explained spokesperson Dr. Marina Murphy .

But there ’s a   collar : The   researchwas conducted byBritish American Tobacco . One of the five biggest tobacco plant companies in the humankind – selling a staggering667 billioncigarettes in 2014 alone – this has n’t stopped them moving into the e - cigarette market . To muddy up the waters further , a discipline releasedearlier this yearclaims to have find that e - cigs could in fact harm the great unwashed ’s lung and make them more susceptible to respiratory infections .

The muddiness fence in e - cigarette and the real or perceived health implications   is reflected in how government are portion out with the ascent of the applied science . While some countries , such asArgentina , have banish their function altogether , other such asWalesare treat them exactly the same as regular cigarettes and banning them in all public place . And for many region , there are simply no restriction at all . The main concern is that the industry is completely unregulated , and no medical licenses have ever been come out for e - fag , as they have for nicotine replacement treatments such as patches or gum .

Even among health charities and think army tank , opinion is divided . While theBritish Medical Associationare for a forbidding in public places , Cancer Research UKare against it . The health problems   behind the product might not be easy to decipher , but what is well-defined is that more self-governing research is want .