Key Issues

The evidence base on e-cigarettes continues to grow at an impressive rate. However, owing to a number of factors, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the impacts of these products on individual and public health. For every study that is published indicating one thing, there seems to be another showing the opposite effect. Part of the problem stems from a lack of standardization for definitions and research methods, along with various methodological flaws and study biases. For example, measures of “regular use” of e-cigarettes often erroneously capture experimentation which inflates the numbers. The lack of standardization has also led to findings that do not reflect real-world e-cigarette use or conditions. For example, an e-cigarette puffed by a machine can be overheated and emit dangerous levels of toxins.