De elektronische sigaret

• The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) among adults in the Netherlands is increasing but is still relatively low.
• Increasing numbers of young people abroad are experimenting with e-cigarettes but no trend data for the Netherlands are available to date.
• Young people who experiment with e-cigarettes are principally those young people who already smoke conventional cigarettes or have done so in the past; the same applies to adults.
• There are no indications that experimenting with e-cigarettes can lead to tobacco addiction.
• Although the vapour from e-cigarettes contains substances that are harmful to health, the health risks from the use of e-cigarettes are far smaller than those from smoking conventional cigarettes.
• Too few research data are available to be able to conclude that e-cigarettes are an effective aid to smoking cessation.

Conflict of interest and financial support: ICMJE forms provided by the authors are available online along with the full text of this article.