Health officials in New York State said on Thursday that they are investigating a possible cause of a recent surge in severe vaping-related illnesses: a compound called vitamin E acetate.
The state Department of Health said in a news release that “very high levels” of the compound had been found in 13 samples from eight of 34 patients who have gotten ill in New York. The samples were analyzed as part of an investigation by the Wadsworth Center, a state laboratory.
This finding by no means ends the search for what is causing the illnesses, particularly given that vitamin E acetate has not been confirmed as a factor in the majority of cases in which patients have gotten sick in New York.
...“As a result, vitamin E acetate is now a key focus of the Department’s investigation of potential causes of vaping-associated pulmonary illnesses,” New York State said in its release. “Vitamin E acetate is a commonly available nutritional supplement that is not known to cause harm when ingested as a vitamin supplement or applied to the skin. However, the Department continues to investigate its health effects when inhaled because its oil-like properties could be associated with the observed symptoms.”
I'm glad they are getting close to blaming it on one specific chemical...
Many lipophilic quinones are powerful sensitizers. Apparently, some of these vaping oils were 50 % vitamin E. What could possibly go wrong?
ReplyDeletecorrelation is not causation. The presence of vitamin E in vaping liquids with cannabis extract is most likely a preservative, to prevent oxidation of terpenes. But it could be that vaping cannabis extracts is really bad for you unless waxes, oils and plant sterols are removed from the extract. There is a long-know cause of nasty acute pneumonia - inhaling lipids and hydrocarbons
ReplyDeleteThey don't remove the non-cannabinoid crap from their vapes?! Good reason not to touch cannibis vape anytime soon and to stay with cookies!
DeleteMilkshake, that is an interesting theory, except that literally everything I've read on these sicknesses is coming from nicotine vapes only.
DeleteI was hearing quite the opposite - and they still do not know what is causing it. Either way, vaporizers work differently from cigarettes, so what may be "safe" in cigarette may cause serious problem in vaporizer.
Deletehttps://www.statnews.com/2019/09/06/vaping-cases-rising-dont-know-cause/
Another problem could be poor quality glycerin and propylene glycol. I would not be surprised if some fly by night vaping juice producers bought their ingredient supply cheaply on Alibaba and used it without doing any quality control. In the past, Chinese glycerin came adulterated with diethylene glycol, which is seriously toxic. Also glycerol made from fats in soapmaking may contain impurities. Pharmacopeia grade is quite expensive because glycerol distillation is not fun.
Vaporizing raw cannabis has been widely popular for well over a decade now, and only until the recent advent of liquid cartridge-type vaporizers have we seen a sudden arrival of illness. I'm more inclined to believe the problem lies in the vehicle, or manufacture of it.
ReplyDeleteApparently, some of these vaping oils were 50 % vitamin E. What could possibly go wrong with vaping?
ReplyDelete