Delaware lawmakers are introducing legislation to add electronic cigarettes to the state's indoor smoking ban.
The bipartisan bill filed Tuesday adds electronic cigarettes, also known as e-cigarettes or digital cigarettes, to Delaware's Clean Indoor Air Act, a 12-year-old law that prohibits smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places.
Electronic cigarettes, which do not contain tobacco and are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, heat liquid nicotine into an inhalable vapor.
Chief bill sponsor Debra Heffernan, a Wilmington Democrat and environmental toxicologist, says e-cigarette emissions contain nicotine and other harmful chemicals, including chromium and nickel.
Three states, North Dakota, Utah and New Jersey, already have banned smoking e-cigarettes indoors. More than 40, including Delaware, prohibit their sale to minors.
The legislation is endorsed by the Delaware Restaurant Association.
