At this point, the public health expert in me is screaming "of course

you idiot, do you know nothing?"

Certainly there are very real fears that these sleek

electronic tubes are hooking a new generation of kids on nicotine,

and that this drug should not be considered safe and socially acceptable

in any form. But as with most things, reality is a little more complex.

Electronic cigarettes are primarily designed to get nicotine

into your body via your lungs, without many of the downside of conventional

cigarettes.

The beauty of the system is that you retain the physical experience of

smoking,

or vaping as it's called in this case, but with out the actual smoke.

E-cigarettes use a liquid such as glycerin into which ingredients like

nicotine and even flavorings are dissolved.

When you take a puff, this liquid is vaporized on a hot wire, and forms a cloud

of fine particles that,

when inhaled, penetrate deep into your lungs.

The good news for smokers is that electronic cigarette

don't produce many of the harmful compounds that burning tobacco does.

And you get less harmful sidestream smoke than regular cigarettes produce.

So at first blush, e-cigarettes look like a great way to get your nicotine hit.

They might even possibly help some people kick the smoking habit,

although the jury is still out on that one.

But vaping on a e-cigarette still means pumping your bloodstream

full of a toxic substance. Nicotine is addictive.

It's toxic at high doses. And it has a whole range affects at lower doses that

may not be good for you.

But surprisingly, there's not much known about whether the occasional cape

presents a significant risk.

However, when you puff on an e-cig, it's not

just nicotine you're inhaling. Recent research has shown that,

in addition to what they are designed to do, some electronic cigarettes deliver

a range of hazardous metals and other chemicals direct to your lungs with each

inhale. Admittedly, these only seem to be present at very low levels; probably too

low to be dangerous in most cases.

But with out regulations on e-cig performance and use,

this may not always be the case. What's worse,

because of these potential contaminants, even nicotine

free electronic cigarettes may be more harmful than people think it they're not

regulated.

That said, there's no reason why the technology can't be developed to avoid

unwanted contamination. The trouble is, while

agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration can potentially regulate

e-digs on the basis on their

nicotine content, it's not quite so clear

how much jurisdiction they have over other substances that may be in you e-puff,

whether they're intended to be there, or not.

If you have any thoughts on electronic cigarettes and their regulation,

please join the conversation in the comments. And remember to check out the

additional resources in the blurb below.