Health advocates are warning Buchanan County residents to get educated about so-called “e-cigarettes.” The battery-powered plastic devices look like cigarettes and deliver a vapor that users inhale to get nicotine.

Dr. Jane Schwabe, a cardiothoracic surgeon and co-chair of Clean Air Saint Joe, says nicotine is one of the key agents responsible for heart blood vessel disease and is not safe at any quantity. E-cigarettes are not an approved way to help smokers quit, and health officials say the vapors produced are more than just nicotine and may contain other harmful chemicals.