E-cigarettes and their potential health implications have taken centre stage in recent months after 33 people were confirmed to have died from vaping-related illnesses in the United States, the youngest of which was just 13.
A further 1,500 cases of lung problems related to the smoking alternative have been reported in the US, prompting the White House to reveal it would ask the Food and Drug Administration to ban non-tobacco flavoured e-cigarettes from the market.
The Centers of Disease Control says no specific substance or single type of e-cigarette device has been linked to the cases, however around 80 per cent of people have said they were using liquids which contained cannabinoid products, such as THC. The federal organisation is also investigating a substance called vitamin E acetate, which can be found in many e-liquid products in the states.
E-cigarettes have been on sale for more than a decade, but reports of vaping-linked illness started proliferating this year. An investigation by state health departments in Illinois and Wisconsin traces the first signs of illness among 53 tracked patients to April. The victims – mostly young men with a median age of 19 – overwhelmingly ended up in the hospital, many under intensive care. A third went on respirators.
Patients typically experienced coughing, chest pain or shortness of breath before their health deteriorated to the point they needed to be hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other reported symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever and weight loss.
Officials are still trying to figure out what, exactly, is causing people to fall ill. They think chemicals are to blame. Vaping has risen dramatically around the world – from 7 million users in 2011 to 35 million a few years ago – as smoking rates decline.
