Cigarette-smoking teenagers hit a new low last year as youngsters turn to e-cigarettes instead , a study has revealed . Around two million high school students admitted to buying vaporizers in 2014 - more than triple the 660,000 recorded the year before . But smoking of traditional cigarettes plummeted to about nine per cent . On the rise : Around two million high school students now admit to buying e-cigarettes . The CDC report , released on Thursday , is based on a national survey of about 22,000 students at middle schools and high schools , both public and private . Tom Frieden , CDC director , remarked that the results are 'alarming ' and 'shocking ' . 'What 's most surprising is how in­cred­ibly rapid the use of products other than cigarettes has increased , ' Frieden said in an interview quoted by The Washington Post . 'It is subjecting another generation of our children to an addictive substance . ' E-cigarettes typically deliver nicotine , propylene glycol , glycerin and flavorings through inhaled vapor . They have been on sale in the United States since 2006 , but this is the first year that the Centers for Disease Control has measured their use . It follows a government-funded study released in December which found similar trends , leading experts to warn of a potential 'epidemic of teen tobacco use ' . 'The concern is that e-cigarette advertising is recruiting intermediate risk adolescents to nicotine use- kids who would not otherwise have started smoking , ' said James Sargent , of Dartmouth Hitchcock 's Norris Cotton Cancer Center in a paper published in the journal Pediatrics . There are currently more than 400 brands of ' e-cigs ' available . E-cigs contain far fewer cancer-causing and other toxic substances than cigarettes , however their long-term effects on health and nicotine dependence are unknown . The popularity of e-cigarettes , which typically deliver nicotine , propylene glycol , glycerin and flavorings through inhaled vapor , has increased in the past five years . 'These are kids who might go on to smoke cigarettes , which are much better at delivering nicotine than e-cigarettes . 'If this pattern of use is adopted by adolescents in the continental U.S. , we could be in for an epidemic of teen tobacco use in this country that could greatly reduce the overall benefits to public health of e-cigarettes . ' Researchers have been critical of the fact that packaging and marketing of e-cigarettes is not regulated , and that manufacturers ' opportunities to target adolescents are wide open , absent FDA regulation of these products . There are currently more than 400 brands of ' e-cigs ' available in the US . E-cigs contain far fewer cancer-causing and other toxic substances than cigarettes , however their long-term effects on health and nicotine dependence are unknown . The CDC study also revealed that about nine per cent of teenagers surveyed said they had tried hookahs .
Two million high school students admitted to using e-cigarettes in 2014 . That is an increase of 13 per cent from the 660,000 recorded in 2013 . Traditional cigarette use has plummeted by 9 per cent , the Centers for Disease Control study shows . Experts warn e-cigarette marketing is not regulated .