France to Ban Electronic Cigarettes in Public, Could Cause Respiratory Disease

As researchers are still investigating the health effects of e-cigarettes, France's Health Minister, Marisol Touraine said Friday that the product will be banned in public places.

In a growing effort to combat the dangers of smoking that the country has been working to resolve since 2007, Tourarine announced in a statement that the faux cigarettes would be banned in "no-go zones," including bars, cafes, trains, waiting rooms and offices.

Approximately 500,000 people in France currently use e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking, according to a government-commissioned report made last week.

However, health officials caution that electronic cigarettes need to be thoroughly tested before further use.

As Discovery Health notes, the near-odorless electronic alternative - battery-driven device that allows users to inhale odorless nicotine-laced vapor was first introduced to the U.S. market in 2007. Many health officials worry about possible side effects that could come from inhaling nicotine vapor as well as health risks that may affect the public.

Scientists are beginning to research the contents of the product, including those at the University of California, who looked at the particles that form an e-cigarette back in March. They discovered silver, iron, aluminium and silicate, and nanoparticles of tin, chromium and nickel inside.

Researchers noted, according to The Guardian, that these elements "were higher than or equal to the corresponding concentrations in conventional cigarette smoke", and that "many of the elements identified in [e-cigarette] aerosol are known to cause respiratory distress and disease."

Besides inhaling potentially dangerous elements, another worry cited by Touraine, is that a product that imitates smoking may encourage old smokers or those who never smoked before to pick up the habit.

"This is no ordinary product because it encourages mimicking and could promote taking up smoking," said Touraine, via Reuters.