E-Cigarettes May Contain Chemicals Linked to Lung Disease

[onehandle]

TUESDAY, Dec. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Many electronic cigarettes contain flavoring chemicals that may cause lung disease, researchers say. A team from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston tested 51 types of flavored e-cigarettes and liquids. The investigators found that 47 (more than 75 percent) of them contained diacetyl.

The chemical has been linked to a severe lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as "popcorn lung" because it was first diagnosed in workers who inhaled artificial-butter flavoring in factories making microwave popcorn. Two other related flavoring chemicals that may pose a lung hazard were also found in many of the flavored e-cigarettes and liquids tested, according to researchers led by Joseph Allen, an assistant professor of exposure assessment science at the school.

One such flavoring chemical, acetoin, was detected in 46 of the flavors while another, called 2,3-pentanedione, was found in 23 of the flavors, the findings showed. The study was published online Dec. 8 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

"Recognition of the hazards associated with inhaling flavoring chemicals started with 'popcorn lung' over a decade ago," Allen said in a Harvard news release. "However, diacetyl and other related flavoring chemicals are used in many other flavors beyond butter-flavored popcorn, including fruit flavors, alcohol flavors and, we learned in our study, candy-flavored e-cigarettes."

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay705935_20151208_E-Cigarettes_May_Contain_Chemicals_Linked_to_Lung_Disease.html

[agnostic102]

1. I know a bit about this topic

The ingredient they are referencing is diacetyl. This is a flavoring that is actually approved by the FDA. the reason diacetyl got a lot of noise is because workers at a popcorn factory developed lung issues often referred to as popcorn lung in fact thats where the phrase comes from.

What a lot of poeple dont know is that the workers at the factor where inhaling POWDER form of this diacetyl. Literally day after day ,months after months, year after year of inhaling the powder form of diacetyl. Eventually they developed lung issues. When they finally came around to the idea and started testing to see what caused this there suspicions eventually led them to diacetyl. Not really being able to duplicate this phenomenom they never even had 100 percent confirmation it was diacetyl. But were certian to a high degree that it MIGHT be diacetyl.

Which leads us back to e-cigs. First regular cigs have 110 times the levels of diacetyl that e-cigs have. As a percentage of the liquids its very very small compared to regular cigs and CERTAINLY compared to the powder form that the popcorn factory inhaled. In fact the more reputable juice makers dont even use diacetyl.

Which i think leads us to the overall question. Should the question be that e-cigs are HEALTHY. or that E-cigs are HEALTHIER.. and i think the latter is the point. let me give you an example.

There is a prescribed drug called chantax. Did you know the side of affects of chantax is suicide? thats right.. doctors are perscribing to you a drug where the side affect is you throwing your self off of a building onto a bunch of bullets.. BUT because compared to regular cigs is BETTER for you they still prescribe it. meaning yes chantax can be bad for you but if it get you to quit cigs then its worth it.

and thats the whole point with e-cigs. I dont think the idea here is that e-cigs are great for you.. the idea is e-cigs contain 600 less cancer causing agents then regular cigs and should be considered a HEALTHIER alternative to quit. not any different then chantax. and HONEST TO GOD. if i had choice between the horrible side affects of chantax or e-cigs i would for sure choose e-cigs.

[ecstatic]

4. Interesting, thanks for sharing. My concern is for people who

were never cigarette smokers but took up e-cigs because they were supposedly harmless.

[Jesus Malverde]

5. A very very small group.

Industry testing of e juice should be encouraged. There is a proposal to have the government regulate e liquids. It sound like it will only serve the big players like big tobacco.

[Mariana]

17. I wonder how many of those there are.

I'm sure there are some, somewhere, but there can't be all that many. I can't imagine why anyone would vape if they had never smoked.

[ecstatic]

18. Good question. I'll ask my SO

He insists it's safe and claims he doesn't inhale.

[Mariana]

21. Your SO knows how many vapers there are

who have never smoked? Great! Please let me know!

[pnwmom]

6. I fully agree that e-cigs are healthier and their levels are lower. But non-smokers should be

able to breathe clean air.

So it's a good idea for cigarette smokers to switch to e-cigs. Just don't expect to start smoking them in public spaces.

[Warpy]

2. Meanwhile, tobacco smoke is 100% guaranteed to contain hundreds of cancer causing chemicals

while this article is chock full of weasel words.

Nicotine itself is not benign, its action on arteries is well known, as is its rapid addiction rate. If you don't smoke, don't start. If you do, then e cigs are far less damaging than inhaling concentrated smoke into your lungs.

[pnwmom]

7. Meanwhile, tobacco smoke is banned in public spaces, and so should e-cigarettes be.

But I have no problem with people smoking either one in private and away from children.

(I know there's no way to regulate people smoking around their own kids. But it isn't fair to the children.)

[SheilaT]

3. Smoking in any form is bad for you.

I'm completely gob smacked that anyone at all has taken up smoking since the Surgeon General's Report on smoking in 1964.

Plus, haven't they finally figured out that they stink?

And if nothing else would convince you, attend a 50th high school reunion. You will have no trouble at all telling the smokers (those that are still around) from the non-smokers, and if you didn't know it was a high school reunion and that everyone would be the same age, you'd guess the smokers to be at least 15 years older than the non smokers. I was recently at my 50th, and it was genuinely horrifying.

[Mariana]

19. That's interesting.

I didn't go to my 30th last year, but I saw pictures and talked to people who did. We noticed it was the heavy drinkers (not all of whom were smokers) who looked very much older than the rest.

[SheilaT]

23. It was quite amazing.

I'd been to reunions since the 35th, and it was at this most recent, the 50th, that the smokers were so obvious. Don't get me wrong, I'm an anti-smoker from way back, but what the smokers looked and sounded like at the 50th was completely hornswoggling. I really, really wish I could send all young smokers to a 50th reunion so they could see the impact of smoking. I wouldn't even express it quite that way. I'd give them a bunch of photos of people, all of whom (unbeknownst to the young folks) are all in the same high school class. I think I'd then just ask them to assemble the photos in age order, and only after give the smoking status.

I've long been a virulent anti-smoker, but my recent (in October) attendance to my 50th high school reunion was a real wake up call. Possibly the worst was a female classmate who not only looked awful, but had that raspy smoker's voice. OMG. We only spoke briefly, outside in the smoker's corner, but it was genuinely scary.

[Aerows]

8. Smoking cigarettes will kill you far more quickly

and diminish your quality of life faster - I quit with e-cigs and ran a 5K for the first time in 10 years.

Go right ahead and bash them, but I can run my ass off now thanks to them.

I have a little shrine to the cigarettes I no longer smoke, it is marked with the date I quit, the number in the pack, and it is prominent on my armoire. I look at it every day and thank every single thing under the sun that I do not inhale poison, kill myself with smoke, and that I was able to get off of coffin nails.

I'll be running a marathon soon, thanks to them, and fuck anybody that does not appreciate how fantastic your lungs feel after 10 years of Marlboro Reds leaving you.

[herding cats]

9. Former smoker here, too.

I quit cold turkey, and I didn't have that many years under my belt, but I don't bash the people who use them to get off cigarettes. Whatever works for you, is what I say. The important goal is that you get away from the cigarettes first and foremost.

I suspect a sizable amount of the woo-ha about e-cigs is mostly coming from the tobacco industry. Most of it is distorted or only half reported at best. Which makes me suspicious.

Lots of their dyed in the wool smokers are now switching from traditional cigarettes to e-cigs. Their market is not just dying, it's also leaving them while they're still alive and able to purchase their product. They're in a state of panic.

Congrats on the pending marathon! I do those from time to time, and know the training is intense, but the final outcome is so fulfilling!

Keep up the good work!

[Aerows]

10. Hey, fellow runner!

It is indeed a phenomenal feeling to train, and fulfill the goal.

There is no way on earth I would be prepared like I am now had I not dropped the killers.

I look at the sealed box every day, and my dreams have gotten better - I have had fewer and fewer dreams that I smoked. It hasn't been easy for me, but I was determined to quit, and at this point? I do not care. I've been off of them for 10 months.

I can run, work out, and my lungs don't give out anymore .

I run better in 5K and 10K. I've never done a marathon, but I want to do so. I'm training hard for it. a 5K is a piece of cake, a 10K isn't that bad.

I don't want to fail, but 26 miles is a long damn way to go.

[herding cats]

16. Wow! You're in great shape for 10 months after quitting!

I've always been a runner, even when I was a smoker. I just didn't run as far or as hard during that period! It took it's toll on me, that's for sure. I noticed it maybe faster than some people because I'd been a runner before I ever started? I dunno. I do know it took me a full year before I was back to my pre-smoking peak after I quit. And, I had less than a decade under my belt at the time. You're doing great!-

26 miles (42K) would require a year of hard training on my part! I don't have that kind of distance in me, naturally. I'd make it less than 1/4 of the way and be on the side laid out and panting.

Seriously, keep up the good work, and keep training for your marathon. You'll love yourself when you finish your first one, and the odds are you're going to become an addict. They're like that.

[Aerows]

22. This may sound weird

But I just got back from a good run, and it feels like my chest is opening up, and my lungs are thankful as they can be. It's a weird sensation, like my breastbone is spreading a bit and going OMG A BUNCH OF AIR!

[Mariana]

20. Some of the woo-ha is coming from people

who are mightily pissed off that smokers are quitting and they're enjoying it! I guess it's only good for smokers to quit if they're miserable while they do it.

I'm not running, but I work a very physically demanding job that I just could not have done when I was smoking.

[agnostic102]

11. good for you aerows!

I know you dont know me but im very proud of you. People who bash e-cigs i beg you to look not just at the negatives but what it was MEANT TO DO. see, poeple drink sodas.. sugar water essentially. and study after study shows how they cause cancer.. how they can hurt your heart and so many other terrible things it does to your body. But people drink them everyday. and after all the harm they cause WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? other then tasting good.. nothing.. they serve no purpose..

E-cigs have the potential to save millions of lives around the world.. they emit far less toxins into the air then cigs.. they can lower health care costs by getting people to quit cig that cause so many breathing problems OTHERN then cancer.. E-cigs have the POTENTIAL to truely change the world.. not to mention jobs! did you know that e-cig industry in the usa alone employees over 100,000 thousand people?? so many small business who can become middle class!

for all that potential benefit.. to ban ecigs.. but let sodas be legal.. is really really not the right way to do things in this world.

[Aerows]

13. Thank you for such an encouraging post!

I have to agree with you on the soda - I've never been a fan of it. I drink unsweetened iced tea every day, and have since I was a child. I see people that drink soft drinks, and it isn't a pretty picture.

Heck I drink decaffeinated iced tea every day, and quit the coffin nails, you cannot believe how much better I feel!

[SheilaT]

24. Good for you. See my post above

about attending a high school class reunion.

Some of the effects of smoking never go away, such as the lines and wrinkles in the face. I have a friend, who I know smoked for many years, and recently she happened to pull her face up, not trying to prove any point, but just doing it, and I could see how great she must have looked when she was young, and how much better she'd look now had she never smoked.

I'm not quite the cutest person on the planet, but never having smoked is huge. Several years ago the subject of ages came up, and my young nieces were completely astonished to learn that I am only 18 months younger than my older sister, a long time smoker. They thought for sure she was several years older. Nope. The difference between a smoker and a non smoker is amazing, especially as the years accumulate.

[Aerows]

14. When I run right by you

You can tell me all about it when and if you ever catch up to me.

[Hekate]

15. I self-deleted before I saw your reply to me. Enjoy running.

I have bad knees (have since college, which was a long time ago) -- anyone can run right past me. I just wave