On August 1st 2017, an incident involving an e-cigarette revived the debate on the dangerous nature of e-cigarettes. A Toulousan saw his e-cigarette battery catch fire in the trunk of his car. Since 2009, different cases of fire or explosion took place, mainly across the Atlantic. E-cig users can therefore question the true risks of e-cigarettes and the potential personal injuries they can cause. But behind this dire picture, the situation is actually less worrying.

In the US, around 20 incidents that involved e-cigarettes took place between 2009 and 2014, and around 15 took place during the 2015-2016 period. People got more or less severe burns on their hands, their thighs and their faces. Each time, the same problem took place: the battery of the e-cigarette exploded. This kind of incident takes place when the poles of the battery touch a metallic object. An electric current is created which leads to an overheating of the battery which is then subject to fire and explosion.

Most of the accidents are due to a bad use of the products. To avoid any risk, there’s one major rule to respect: never put an unprotected battery and a metallic object together. 

Safety standards