United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said in a report Tuesday that electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes, represent an "evolving frontier filled with promise and threat for tobacco control," and urged for regulations in place to impede their promotion to non-smokers and young people.

"Evidence shows that while they are likely to be less toxic than conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes use poses threats to adolescents and fetuses of pregnant mothers using these devices," said Douglas Bettcher, WHO Director of Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases in an interview with UN Radio.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), of which electronic cigarettes are the most common prototype, are devices that do not burn or use tobacco leaves but instead vaporize a solution the user then inhales. The report says existing evidence shows that e-cigarette aerosol is not merely "water vapor" as is often claimed in the marketing of these products.

The report outlines several regulations including a ban on nicotine-vapor products with fruit, candy-like and alcohol-drink flavors until it can be proved they are not attractive to children and adolescents. E-cigarettes have been marketed in almost 8,000 different flavors, and there is concern they will serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction and, ultimately, smoking, particularly for young people.

In the report, WHO noted that experimentation with e-cigarettes is increasing rapidly among adolescents, with e-cigarette use in this group doubling from 2008 to 2012.

The report stressed on the importance of prohibiting unproven claims about e-cigarettes and protecting existing tobacco control efforts from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry. It said an appropriate Government body must restrict e-cigarette advertising, promotion and sponsorship, to ensure that it does not target youth and non-smokers.

The document also found there was currently insufficient evidence to conclude that e-cigarettes help users quit smoking or not. WHO recommends that smokers should first be encouraged to quit smoking and nicotine addiction by using a combination of already-approved treatments.

Since 2005, the e-cigarette industry has grown from one manufacturer in China to an estimated $3 billion global with 466 brands, a market in which the tobacco industry is taking a greater stake. WHO has repeatedly expressed concerns about the tobacco industry's role in this market.

Electronic cigarettes will be discussed at the 6th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which will be held in Moscow from October 13 to 18.

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