Preteen girls have easy access to e-cigarettes but don't know the health risks, study shows

Girls as young as 11 and 12 years old have used e-cigarettes and can get hold of them easily from friends, parents and shops, a new study has shown.

Researchers found that a number of year seven girls living in North Wales could name at least five flavours of e-cigarette, but some were unaware that the products contained nicotine.

In Wrexham, half of the girls consulted for the independent survey, commissioned by Public Health Wales, said they had tried e-cigarettes, but figures were much lower elsewhere.

Wales is planning legislation to ban people using e-cigarettes in public places, as well as a ban on sales to under-18s: a measure which is also being considered in England. There are fears that the products are becoming a “gateway” to smoking among young people - with flavours such as strawberry and bubblegum apparently directly aimed at children. However, many experts believe they could also be useful quit-smoking aids.

The Welsh study only looked at usage among girls because previous research had suggested smoking rates were higher among girls in parts of Wales than among boys.

However, previous research by the anti-smoking charity ASH has suggested that rates of e-cigarette use among children and young people is very low, and the vast majority of users are adults and either current or ex-smokers.

Public health experts are increasingly divided over the issue of e-cigarettes. Some believe that the products could be a powerful tool to reduce smoking rates, but others are concerned over the growing influence of the tobacco industry over the e-cigarette market, and fear that plans for the products to be licensed as medicines could see public health budgets in effect subsidising the tobacco industry.

E-cigarettes contain nicotine, but are far less harmful to health than cigarettes.