According to US health authorities, the lung disease responsible for 39 deaths is linked to a molecule, vitamin E acetate which, when heated and combined with cannabis oil, turns into “glue” in the lungs.
End of the mystery? While in the United States, electronic cigarette refills sold on the black market have caused lung diseases in more than 2,000 vapers, as well as 39 deaths, health authorities finally seem to have found the person responsible for this epidemic.
Its name: vitamin E acetate, a vitamin oil added to cannabis refills and which, inhaled or heated, becomes harmful.
“Direct evidence” of the responsibility of vitamin E acetate
Widely used in the cosmetics industry, vitamin E acetate is normally harmless. Can be purchased in the form of capsules to swallow or oil to apply to the skin, however, it becomes dangerous for health when it is heated and combined with the cannabis oil found in the refills.
Already strongly suspected of being at the origin of the epidemic of lung diseases among vapers, vitamin E acetate was definitively incriminated when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) discovered its presence in pulmonary fluids in 29 patients.
“These analyzes provide direct evidence that vitamin E acetate is the primary culprit of damage in the lungs,” said CDC deputy director Anne Schuchat. According to her, “no other potential toxin has yet been detected in the analyses”.
E-cigarettes soon to be banned for those under 21
These revelations come as Donald Trump announced his intention to ban the sale of flavored electronic cigarettes last September. The American president seems since to have reconsidered his decision, anxious not to burden this new industry with excessive restrictions.
His administration now has another idea: raise the minimum age to buy e-cigarettes from 18 to 21. Donald Trump has also announced that his administration will unveil “next week” a vast plan to reduce the use of e-cigarettes among young people. “We are going to announce a very important initiative on vaping. We especially have to take care of our children, so we are going to have an age limit of around 21,” he told reporters.
The analysis conducted by the CDC and the restrictions announced by the American president come one month after the publication in the BMJ of a vast meta-analysis pointing out the deleterious effects of vaping on the respiratory system. According to its authors, the effects of electronic cigarettes on lung health have both “similarities with those of traditional cigarettes” but also “significant differences”. In question, in particular: the presence in e-liquids of substances such as nicotine, propylene glycol / vegetable glycerin and flavorings, suspected of increasing “bronchitis-type symptoms, increased asthma, shortness of breath “, but also to increase the risk lung damage and immunosuppression, such as increased susceptibility to bacterial or viral infections.
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