E-cigarettes pose health risks, warns France’s health watchdog
The devices have “possible medium- and long-term” health effects, the warning says
France’s health agency is warning of potential long-term risks from electronic smoking devices
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E-cigarettes “pose a health risk to the user” and should not be used “trivially”, says a new report from the French public health watchdog Anses.
E-cigarettes, or vapes, are inhalers that vaporise nicotine liquid to simulate the act of smoking. While they do include nicotine, they do not produce smoke. In France, they are referred to as ‘cigarettes électroniques’, ‘e-cigarettes’, or informally, ‘vapoteuses.’
Cancer and cardiovascular complaints
The electronic devices have “possible medium- and long-term” health effects, stated Anses (l’Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire). These include links with cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and foetal development problems.
The risks are associated with the inhalation of the “toxic” and possibly “carcinogenic” substances found in the liquids of e-cigarettes, outlined the report.
Products containing nicotine, the addictive substance found in cigarettes and some e-cigarettes, are also considered to “probably” cause negative cardiovascular effects, such as higher blood pressure.
Transitional tool
The agency highlighted that vapes can be a “transitional” way for smokers to quit smoking real cigarettes, noting that the devices pose fewer health risks than “smoked tobacco”, which are “serious, proven and well-documented”.
However, it warned that the “ultimate health goal” must be to quit vapes too.
Vapes should be used as a helpful tool solely for stopping smoking in conjunction with “existing support measures”, it said.
In addition, continuing to smoke both tobacco cigarettes and vapes at the same time (even if the user is smoking less tobacco as a result and using vapes in a bid to quit cigarettes gradually) was not advised.
This “dual exposure” could even “prove to be worse than…single exposure to cigarettes or e-cigarettes”.
The dangers of raising taxes on vapes
Anses also commented on the implications of increasing taxes on e-cigarettes, which was originally suggested as part of the 2026 budget (but withdrawn at the last minute).
The agency warned that although raising taxes on the products may initially “discourage some users”, it could in fact cause greater health issues as it would likely lead to a “shift towards homemade products with unsuitable ingredients” and fuel the proliferation of a “parallel market”.
Half of vapers already use “homemade” e-liquids “for economic reasons”, it said, putting them at risk of overdose and other serious issues.
Agency recommendations
In response to its findings, Anses is calling for:
It said that the current ban on advertising and sales to under-18s did not go far enough.
It comes after MPs voted to ban disposable vapes in February last year (which was supported by the European Commission).
Similarly, in 2022, the HCSP (Haut Conseil de la santé publique) changed its advice on e-cigarettes, stating that health professionals should not recommend vapes to people who wish to stop smoking as “the current evidence is insufficient for health professionals to be able to suggest [electronic cigarettes] as aids to smoking cessation”.
It had previously recommended that e-cigarettes or vapes could be considered as an aid to stop or reduce tobacco consumption.
“Health professionals who are helping a smoker stop smoking must [instead] use medicinal or non-medicinal treatments that have proven their effectiveness,” it said.
