Vape 2019 - lung damage from e-cigarettes. 1080 sick. 18 deaths. All those affected have used e-cigarettes, but now US authorities are officially reporting the probable cause to the epidemic of lung damage that has hit the US in recent months: pre-filled tanks of THC (the psychoactive component of cannabis) have been found to be the common denominator in 78 per cent of reported cases, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)..
"We urge people not to use e-cigarettes together with products containing illegally manufactured THC liquid," writes the Commissioner. CDC on its website.
The CDC is following the lead of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA already warned vejpers a few weeks ago against using THC products "bought on the street".
The statement was prompted by a compilation published by the CDC at the end of the week, in which the agency published the names of the products used by those infected (some 100 cases in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois). At the top of the list were products under the name 'Dank Vapes'. Dank Vapes is not actually a brand of e-juice but a pre-printed empty pack that can be bought in bulk from China.
The concept has attracted many illegal drug dealers who use the packaging to sell THC juice. The market for uncontrolled and especially untested pre-filled tanks of THC juice is very large in the US, both in states where sales are legal (but expensive) and in states where cannabis is illegal to sell.
The list also includes JUUL brand pre-filled tanks, an e-cigarette that has become very popular among young people and is partly owned by Altria (the renamed tobacco giant Philip Morris). So-called JUUL pods are also suspected of being copied and sold on the black market, but the CDC does not comment on the type of pods involved in these cases. Of the 22 per cent who said they used only regular e-juice, 22 per cent reported 77 per cent said they had used JUUL podcasts. The rest reported other types of pre-filled and a few other brands (JUUL is not sold in Sweden).
However, previous reports have shown that it does not appear to be THC itself that is responsible for the lung damage. Rather, it is the manufacturing process and substances likely used to mix the oil-based THC extract into the alcohol-based e-juice. Vitamin E has been found in tests from more than half of those affected. Vitamin E is directly harmful when inhaled as it turns into an oil-like substance when heated. This can lead to acute pneumonia that deteriorates rapidly. According to Leafly magazine vitamin E can be found in over half of the pre-filled THC tanks. sold in the US. Probably in larger quantities on the black market.
However, according to both the CDC and the FDA, there are still not found a single substance linking all those affected, and another study was published a few days ago, suggesting another possible cause. Researchers in Arizona have analysed 17 cases, with 13 of the 17 stating that they had used THC products, writes New Your Times. The results showed severe lung damage similar to chemical burns in the lungs, which cannot necessarily be linked to vitamin E. The researchers suggest that another unknown substance may have caused the damage. The researchers suggest that another unknown substance may have caused the damage.
Professor Michael Siegel, renowned tobacco prevention researcher, however, says the new report only further confirms that illegally produced THC juice and/or copies of other pre-filled pods are the culprits.
"The researchers in Arizona suspect direct chemical damage to the lungs. That strongly suggests some kind of new contaminant, and not inhalation of traditional nicotine. Nicotine has been used in e-juice for years with no reports of anything similar. In addition, other studies have shown that the nicotine-containing liquids used by those affected have not contained any unknown contaminants." scribe Michael Siegel.
He also notes that no direct cases of lung damage have been linked to nicotine-containing liquids bought over the counter, only when sufferers used both THC and nicotine products.
"It is simply extremely unlikely that store-bought nicotine-containing e-liquids played a role in this outbreak," writes the European Commission. Michael Siegel.
Read more about lung damage in the US:
THC juice causes lung damage
British authorities: "Ordinary vejpning is safe"
Read more Swedish voices on e-cigs:
DN's editorial page strikes a blow for vejpning
Vejpshoppers are important
