News on Vaping and Lung Injury

[deluxestogie]

The news just broke today that those folks winding up in the hospital with severe lung disease from vaping, likely vaped a cannabis containing product that contains Vitamin E acetate, which is toxic if inhaled. There is at least one confirmed instance where the product was purchased from a legal pharmacy (Washington state). The final word is not in yet, but it appears that Vitamin E acetate is found (at least in New York state) in just about every cannabis vaping product they tested.

I don't know or care if you indulge in THC products, but vaping them (either from legal or illicit sources) appears to be a serious hazard.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/09/05/contaminant-found-vaping-products-linked-deadly-lung-illnesses-state-federal-labs-show/?noredirect=on

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

It's been 10 days since I posted this thread. During the interim, essentially nothing has changed about the likely cause of this problem, despite the waffling of the CDC.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Just today, two months after my first post, CDC is kinda saying that vitamin E acetate is the prime suspect. In the release today, a medical center performed an alveolar lavage (rinse a bit of fluid from deep in the lungs) of 28 hospitalized cases of this vaping illness. 100% of them revealed vitamin E acetate.

Risk Factors for E-Cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use–Associated...

The United States is experiencing an unprecedented outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI) (1). All EVALI patients have used e-cigarette, or vaping, products...

www.cdc.gov

If this were food poisoning, and 100% of those affected ate Aunt Gertrude's potato salad at the church picnic, with all other food items distributing randomly among the victims, then there would be little doubt. I do think, though, that a series of only 28 out of thousands of vaping victims is a compelling suggestion that needs further verification.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

I linked the wrong CDC article (same subject, same date). Here's the one on alveolar lavage:

Evaluation of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid from Patients in an...

CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and multiple public health and clinical partners are investigating a national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping...

www.cdc.gov

Bob