E-cigarettes are 10 times more harmful than regular tobacco!

Tokyo (AFP), E-cigarettes are more harmful than regular tobacco with 10 times the level of cancer-causing carcinogens, Japanese scientists have claimed.

A team of researchers commissioned by Japan's Health Ministry studied the vapour produced by e-cigarettes for signs of carcinogens, a media report said.

The electronic devices- increasingly popular around the world, particularly among young people- function by heating flavoured liquid, which often contains nicotine, into a vapour that is inhaled, much like traditional cigarettes, but without the smoke.

Researchers found carcinogens such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde in vapour produced by several types of e-cigarette liquid, TBS television reported.

Formaldehyde- a substance found in building materials and embalming fluids- was present at levels 10 times those found in the smoke from regular cigarettes, TBS said.

Researcher Naoki Kunugita and his team at the National Institute of Public Health submitted their report to the ministry on Thursday, the broadcaster said. However, Naoki Kunugita added that the levels of the formaldehyde carcinogen fluctuated in the final results.

"You call them e-cigarettes, but they are products totally different from regular tobacco," the Japanese health ministry official said.

Neither the scientist nor anyone from the health ministry were immediately available to confirm the report.

In common with many jurisdictions, Japan does not regulate e-cigarettes, which can be bought easily on the Internet. However, unlike in some Western countries, they are not readily available in shops.

"The government is now studying the possible risks associated with them, with view to looking at how they should be regulated."

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) urged governments to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors because of the "serious threat" posed to them.

The UN health agency said that despite the lack of evidence on the damage caused by e-cigarettes, there was enough "to caution children and adolescents, pregnant women, and women of reproductive age" about their use, adding that they should be outlawed from indoor public spaces.