As a growing number of smokers, many of them young, try e-cigarettes, government officials and medical experts are warning of the negative effects of the habit.

With electronic cigarettes flying off the shelves in stores and online, health experts and organizations are sounding the alarm on potential health risks and what they see as questionable advertising techniques targeted at teenagers.

Both the FDA and the Wolf administration have released statements warning of the effects e-cigarettes can have, while doctors urge users to quit.

Dr. Kar-Hai Chu, assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh, said one of the biggest concerns about e-cigarettes is how little is really known about them.

“There are no long-term studies,” he said. “The FDA has very little regulations on them. When you ask me what chemicals are in them, I can’t tell you because there are so many of them.”

E-cigarettes burst into the mainstream during the last few years, as sleek designs and fruity flavors captured the imaginations of customers looking to enjoy the feelings and benefits afforded by nicotine but without the stigma of cigarettes.

But there were some other factors at play, said Chu, that organizations like the FDA are increasingly concerned about.

This is an excerpt — read the full story in the Friday’s Butler Eagle.For more information about the risks of e-cigarettes for youth and other resources, visit e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/resources.html.