E-cigarettes may contain up to 10 times more cancer-causing agents: Study

Despite how e-cigarettes are sometimes marketed, they contain up to 10 times the level of cancer-causing agents in regular tobacco, according to a new report by Japanese scientists.

A team of researchers commissioned by Japan's Health Ministry studied the vapour produced by e-cigarettes for signs of carcinogens, a media report said.

Researchers at Japan's National Institute for Public Health said they had found two carcinogens - formaldehyde and acetaldehyde - in vapour produced by several types of e-cigarettes during a study commissioned by the country's health ministry, according to the AFP.

Formaldehyde, a substance found in building materials and embalming fluids, was present at much higher levels than carcinogens found in the smoke from regular cigarettes, the official said.

"In one brand of e-cigarette the team found more than 10 times the level of carcinogens contained in one regular cigarette," said researcher Naoki Kunugita, adding that the amount of formaldehyde detected varied through the course of analysis.

"Especially when the... wire (which vaporises the liquid) gets overheated, higher amounts of those harmful substances seemed to be produced."

The researchers analyzed several kinds of e-cigarette fluid, using a special 'puffing' machine that inhaled 10 of 15 puffs of vapor.

In August, the World Health Organization called on governments to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, warning they pose a "serious threat" to unborn babies and young people.

The WHO also called to ban e-cigarettes in indoor spaces

Earlier this month, Oxford Dictionaries picked "vape"-- the act of smoking an e-cigarette -- as their new word of the year.

Big tobacco companies are snapping up producers of e-cigarettes, wary of missing out on a snowballing global market worth about $3 billion.