Vaping is not as healthy as you thought...

Two words: Popcorn lung.

Vapes have been marketed as a “healthy” way to stop smoking cigarettes and many young people seem to be on the bandwagon.

A CDC report found that nearly 60% of adults who had ever tried vaping are former cigarette smokers who had quit within the last 12 months. The same report also showed that 1 out of every 4 current e-cigarette users were smoking cigarettes the year before. (1)

DIACETYL AND VAPES

Diacetyl is by far the scariest additive in my book. It is a chemical that was used to give a buttery flavoring to food… until it was discovered that inhaling diacetyl causes an irreversible and deadly lung disease called obliterative bronchiolitis (aka Popcorn Lung) shown in the drawing below. As you can see in the damaged bronchiole shown on the right hand side, the scarring and inflammation from the disease make breathing nearly impossible.

According to OSHA, it was so evident that diacetyl was causing the chronic lung disease that the food additive was promptly banned for worker safety. (2)

Seems strange to me that something so deadly to inhale would be used as an ingredient to add flavor to vape pods.

A 2016 Harvard study found that 39 of 51 e-cigarette brands contained diacetyl, and 92% of vapes studied contained at least 1 of the top 3 chemicals known to cause Popcorn Lung. (PMC: 4892929)

In 2019, those same Harvard researchers studied the effects of two of the Popcorn Lung-inducing chemicals on normal human bronchial epithelial cells (aka living tissue just like what is found in the human windpipe). The two molecules tested were diacetyl and a similar molecule called 2,3-pantedione.

The results? Both chemicals had genetic effects on the cells that caused impaired structure and functioning. Put in layman’s terms: Exposure to either chemical causes negative changes to your cells which can lead to severe lung disease. (PMC: 6358614)

TIPS FOR AVOIDING DIACETYL IN VAPE JUICE

As of the writing of this blog post, there are no regulations or restrictions on diacetyl content of vapes in the US. Yikes!

The best way to avoid diacetyl and other Popcorn Lung-inducing chemicals (besides not vaping at all) is to choose the unflavored juice. It may not be as tasty, but these dangerous chemicals are found in the flavoring pods themselves.

Luckily, some manufacturers also provide "diacetyl free" formulas so if you want to vape with flavor, you can do so worry-free. Check out Black Note, Vapor Fi, Kind Juice and Cosmic Fog for some high quality vape juice without the unnecessary contaminants. (not an ad!)

Buyer beware!

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REFERENCES:

1. Villarroel MA, Cha AE, Vahratian A. Electronic cigarette use among U.S. adults, 2018. NCHS Data Brief, no 365. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2020.

2. OSHA. “Flavorings Related Lung Disease: Diacetyl and 2,3-Pentadione.” US Department of Labor. Accessed November 15 2022. Available: https://www.osha.gov/flavorings-related-lung-disease/diacetyl

3. Allen JG, Flanigan SS, LeBlanc M, Vallarino J, MacNaughton P, Stewart JH, Christiani DC. Flavoring Chemicals in E-Cigarettes: Diacetyl, 2,3-Pentanedione, and Acetoin in a Sample of 51 Products, Including Fruit-, Candy-, and Cocktail-Flavored E-Cigarettes. Environ Health Perspect. 2016 Jun;124(6):733-9. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1510185. Epub 2015 Dec 8. PMID: 26642857; PMCID: PMC4892929.

4. Park HR, O'Sullivan M, Vallarino J, Shumyatcher M, Himes BE, Park JA, Christiani DC, Allen J, Lu Q. Transcriptomic response of primary human airway epithelial cells to flavoring chemicals in electronic cigarettes. Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 1;9(1):1400. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-37913-9. PMID: 30710127; PMCID: PMC6358614.

5. Image credit: Research Outreach. Available: https://researchoutreach.org/articles/health-medicine/developing-a-novel-inhaled-therapeutic-for-the-treatment-of-bronchiolitis-obliterans-syndrome/

#vaping #lung #ecigarettes #lungdisease