There have been many news stories and Facebook posts highlighting an outbreak of 'Vaping-Related Lung Disease'. While an initial look would certainly give anyone who uses an electronic cigarette cause for concern, closer examination will show that the internet and media have once again sensationalized a serious story to garner views and headlines, and neglected to truly examine and explain the issues.
The initial reports were scattered over many different states, but all were essentially the same: young person in good health, with no previous history of respiratory disease, suddenly falls severely ill after using a vape device. As a manufacturer of e-liquid, and as vapers for many years ourselves, this was a huge cause for concern. What could be causing this? After further investigation, it appears that the culprit is a variety of black-market THC cartridges, not traditional nicotine vapor products. While we do not have all of the answers yet, more and more of the agencies have released statements highlighting these THC cartridges as the cause of this outbreak. Even the FDA, no friend of the vape industry, has released a statement that explains the potential dangers of these cartridges. (See sources at bottom of page for FDA article).
So what exactly is going on? It appears that there are THC cartridges containing Vitamin E acetate on the market, as well as some cartridges with other forms of contamination. These are not cartridges from licensed dispensaries in THC legal states, but instead purchased on the black market. It is unknown why or how these dangerous components are being added to these cartridges, but the recommendation at this time to avoid using any THC cartridges that are not sourced from reputable vendors in THC legal states.
What does this mean for vapers that use regular nicotine e-liquids? Not too much. Vitamin E acetate is used in skin care and health supplements, and is not something that any reputable e-liquid manufacturer, including us, would allow anywhere near their products. The use of quality ingredients and good manufacturing practices should eliminate the risk of virtually any other contaminant as well. As always, we recommend that you purchase factory sealed products from reputable vendors, manufactured by reputable companies.
While vaping can never be called completely safe, it is recognized by the UK Royal College of Physicians as being 95% less harmful than smoking, and as a helpful tool for adult smokers to replace traditional cigarettes. Vape Dojo, Charlie Noble, and Ten Buck Juice will always strive to provide adult vapers with the highest quality, affordable products that they expect of us.
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