Madison added electronic cigarettes to the smoking ban back in January, but a bill state lawmakers will consider soon looks to prevent local governments from passing those kinds of restrictions.

The proposal from Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, would prevent local governments from enacting ordinances that would broadly ban e-cigarettes from being used in indoor public spaces.

Kleefisch believes that it should be the decision of the business in question, not the local government, to choose whether or not e-cigarettes can be used indoors, Kleefisch spokesperson Ashlee Moore said.

“Businesses would benefit from individuals not having to go outside to use a product that doesn’t have any scientific proof that it has a negative impact on the people around it,” Moore said.

Yet Ryan Sheahan, coordinator for the Tobacco Free Columbia-Dane County Coalition, said when the battery in e-cigarettes heats the solution to vaporize it, there are small amounts of potentially harmful heavy metals that are also being released.

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine also found the components of e-cigarettes include formaldehyde, the known carcinogen, according to Chris Hollenbach, spokesperson for the UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention.

Other studies have also found dangerous chemicals within e-cigarettes, though there are less harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes than there are in traditional cigarettes, Hollenbach said.

“If you have a child in a bowling alley, whether or not their being exposed to cigarette smoke, which can cause cancer in the long term, or ultra-fine particles and chemicals that we’re seeing in the aerosol that can trigger a severe asthma attack in a child, it’s still a public health issue,” Sheahan said.

One of the additional challenges of regulating the use of e-cigarettes is the large number of different brands available. In 2014, there were 466 different brands of e-cigarettes, Hollenbach said. Many of these brands are imported, with little regulation of these products.

This makes the issue of second-hand “smoke” safety a more complicated question, since ingredients may differ by brand, he said.

Sheahan said continuing to educate local lawmakers on new evidence as Wisconsin seeks out an solution to the question of e-cigarette safety is the most important step for public health authorities right now.

Local lawmakers passed the legislation to add e-cigarettes to the city smoking ban with an overwhelming vote back in January, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said.

Verveer also said Kleefisch’s bill would also take control away from local governments through preempting their legislation.

“I strongly believe that municipal government is the government that’s closest to the people and has a better pulse on what is best for the local community,” Verveer said.

A bill from some Democrats, meanwhile, would add e-cigarettes to the state’s smoking ban.