More e-cigarette research required

More research is needed into the long-term impact of e-cigarettes, a senior health official has said.

The devices are marketed as “interested, exciting and edgy” products, that “might encourage people to use them in the longer term”, according to Professor Gillian Leng, the deputy chief executive at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Speaking at a parliamentary committee meeting Prof Leng said the long-term impact of using e-cigarettes is not yet known because they are still relatively new.

When asked about the assertion getting people on to e-cigarettes may maintain an addiction to nicotine, she said: “I think that is the distinction between using e-cigarettes as a quitting aid, which you clearly can do, you downgrade the amount of nicotine you get through the product and it can help you to stop your nicotine addiction. The question is whether it becomes a lifestyle choice and I think there might be questions about the way e-cigarettes are being marketed. They are being marketed as an exciting, edgy product that might encourage people to use them in the longer term.”