Vape 2019 - lung damage by e-cigarettes. 1080 sick. 18 dead. All those affected have used e-cigarettes, but now US authorities officially report the probable cause to the epidemic of lung damage that has hit the US in recent months: pre-filled tanks with THC (the psychoactive part of cannabis) have been found to be the common denominator in 78% of reported cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.
"We urge people not to use e-cigarettes together with products containing illegally manufactured THC liquid" writes CDC on its website.
The CDC is thus following the same line as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA already warned vejpare a few weeks ago to use THC products "bought on the street".
The statement is based on 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 who fell ill (around 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 an e-juice brand but a pre-printed empty package that can be bought in bulk from China.
The concept has attracted many illegal drug dealers who use the packaging for their THC juice sales. 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.
Also on the list are pre-filled tanks of the JUUL brand, an e-cigarette that has become very popular among young people and is partly owned by Altria (the renamed Philip Morris tobacco giant). 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 pod involved in these cases. Of the 22% of people who reported using only regular e-juice 77 percent that they have used JUUL podcasts. The rest reported other types of pre-filled and a few other brands (JUUL is not sold in Sweden, editor's note).
However, previous reports have shown that it does not seem to be THC itself that are 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. The substance vitamin E has been found in tests from over half of those affected. Vitamin E is directly harmful to inhale as it turns into an oil-like substance when heated. This can lead to acute pneumonia that worsens rapidly. According to Leafly magazine vitamin E can be found in over half of pre-filled THC tanks sold in the United States. Probably in larger quantities on the black market.
However, according to both the CDC and the FDA not found a single substance linking all those affected, and one more study was published in recent days that suggested another possible cause. Researchers in Arizona have analyzed 17 cases where 13 of the 17 stated that they 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.
professor Michael Siegel, a renowned tobacco prevention researcher, believes that the new report only further confirms that illegally produced THC juice and/or copies of other pre-filled pods are the culprits.
"The Arizona researchers 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 without any similar reports. In addition, other studies have shown that the nicotine-containing liquids used by those affected have not contained any unknown contaminants" write Michael Siegel.
He also notes that no direct cases of lung damage have been linked to over-the-counter nicotine-containing liquids, only when sufferers used both THC and nicotine products.
"It is simply extremely unlikely that nicotine-containing e-liquids purchased in stores played a role in this outbreak" writes Michael Siegel.
Read more about the lung damage in the United States:
THC juice causes lung damage
UK authorities: "Regular vejpning is safe"
Read more Swedish voices on e-cigs:
DN's editorial page strikes a blow for vejpning
Roadside shoppers are important
