E-cigarettes have up to 10 times more carcinogens than regular smokes, say Japanese researchers

A file picture showing a delegate at an e-cigarette summit in London, Britian on Nov 18 this year. - AFP

TOKYO: E-cigarettes contain up to 10 times the level of cancer-causing agents in regular tobacco, Japanese scientists said Thursday, the latest blow to an invention once heralded as less harmful than smoking.

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.