In the age of technological advancements, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our health and diminish or eradicate side effects of our bad habits. There is insurmountable evidence that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health. As an alternative, people have turned to electronic cigarettes or vaping. The first commercially available e-cigarette was created in Beijing, China by Hon Lik, who created the device after his father, a heavy smoker, died of lung Cancer (CASSA, 2017). E-cigarettes were introduced in the U.S. in 2006, and thus only now are scientists discovering possible long-term side effects. A 2016 Harvard study analyzed 51 e-cigarette flavors from the three largest e-cigarette companies (Allen, 2016). They found that 75% of the juices had a flavoring chemical called diacetyl that was found to have an association with bronchiolitis obliterans and other severe respiratory diseases.
Flavoring chemicals in food products gained notoriety in the early 2000’s because of reports of serious lung disease in microwave popcorn workers (Hilts, 2001). The heating, vaporization and inhalation of these chemicals in vaping is similar to the exposure in these microwave popcorn workers.This was discovered after a Missouri doctor contacted the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services to report that eight of his patients, who worked at the same factory, had an obstructive respiratory disease (CDC, 2002). Half of his patients were waiting on a lung transplant list. The CDC later found that the flavoring chemical used in artificial butter, diacetyl, was the cause of these reports. The flavoring chemicals were deemed acceptable for ingestion but upon inhalation these microwave popcorn workers developed scarring and inflammation in their lungs. Inhalation of the chemical diacetyl was found to be associated with a disease that became known as “popcorn lung”. Bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as “popcorn lung”, is a disease that results in obstruction of the bronchioles due to inflammation.
Not all e-cigarettes contain diacetyl but it is important to know that some juices do contain this harmful chemical. E-cigarettes are marketed as a safe and healthy alternative to smoking. E-cigarette companies are targeting youths with fruity and candy flavors and are hooking them into a life-long addiction. In 2011, the National Youth Tobacco Survey found that fewer than 5% of middle and high school students tried vaping (NYTS, 2017). By 2015, more than 1 in 10 middle schoolers and 1 in 3 high schoolers had used them at least once. Vaping is an unregulated and under examined industry and thus there is still much to understand about diacetyl and other possible harmful flavoring chemicals.
References
Allen, J. G., Flanigan, S. S., Leblanc, M., Vallarino, J., Macnaughton, P., Stewart, J. H., & Christiani, D. C. (2015). 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. Environmental Health Perspectives, 124(6). doi:10.1289/ehp.1510185
CDC. (2002). Fixed Obstructive Lung Disease in Workers at a Microwave Popcorn Factory—Missouri, 2000-2002. Jama, 287(22), 2939. doi:10.1001/jama.287.22.2939-jwr0612-2-1
Consumer Advocates for Smoke Free Alternatives Association (CASAA). (2017, November 14). Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes. Retrieved November 21, 2017, from http://casaa.org/historical-timeline-of-electronic-cigarettes/
Hilts P. 2001. Artificial butter suspected in lung disease. New York Times (New York, NY) 4 October.
National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), & CDC. (2017, October 19). Smoking & Tobacco Use. Retrieved November 20, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/nyts/
Erika,
ReplyDeleteVery good read especially since I personally know people who use e-cigarettes and vapes. I agree that there is more to learn about diacetyl and it's effects. I went to doing some research on my own and I came across an article on health.harvard.edu titled "E-cigarettes: Good news, bad news". Here they discussed the good and bad things that e-cigs have to offer. They did discuss the chemical diacetyl and how it is associated with a rare lung disease called bronchiolitis obliterans which causes permanent damage to the bronchioles. But, in good news, for people who are addicted to cigarettes, e-cigarettes offer a less dangerous source of nicotine and e-cigs also don't contain tar or some of the other poisonous gases. E-cigs may be an option for people who are already addicted to cigarettes but we should be careful because e-cigarettes are becoming popular with a younger age crowd.
Diddo on what Taylor said. I think it's important to bring this up because many people assume E-cigarettes are just as regulated and researched as cigarettes. Or, possibly more detrimental, people think they're a completely safe alternative from cigarettes. As you mentioned, diacetyl is one of many potentially harmful chemicals that simply haven't been researched or regulated near as much as they should. I found a NYT article talking about FDA regulation, more specifically that they're delaying the implementation of regulation. Many states have classified e-cigarettes as tobacco products, but the manufacturing and sale of the "juices" isn't regulated as strictly as normal tobacco products. In the article, Greg Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, which is an advocate for the industry, was quoted saying, “Without this delay, over 99 percent of vaper products available on the market today would be banned next year.” The author noted that this most certainly is an exaggeration, but I think it's important to recognize that simple regulations would potentially pull so many products off of the market (and it makes me wonder why). The article goes on to support the point you made Erika, in that the flavors are beginning to target younger crowds, an obviously harmful strategy. However, again as you mentioned, they do show good potential to be a step in the right direction for those addicted to cigarettes already.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: more research needs to be done.
Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/health/electronic-cigarette-tobacco-nicotine-fda.html
I like to draw on an interesting parallel between the cigarettes before the 1980s and e-cigarettes. Before about the 1980s, cigarettes were considered to be completely safe for all and even considered healthy to smoke them for a very long time. It was not until the emeregnce of many studies that linked long time smokers to lung cancer that people began to wise up. It took many years and millions of people getting lung cancer for anyone, in particular the American goverment to do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteNow, we have the emergence of a new, similarly addicive substance/device that is being marketed in ways similar to that of cigarettes. Vaping is cool: everyone likes the huge clouds of vapor and they like to look like their healthy for not smoking cigarettes. We don't know as a society what the long term effects of these devices are. There very likly are some, but just like with cigarettes we probably won't know what they are for many years. Until then, it's basically a waiting game because without hard scientific evidence, nothing can be said against these e-cigarettes. It will be interesting to see what effect come to the forefront first, and popcorn lung is certainly something to look for in coming generations. Great read!
Erika, I think you bring up some really important points in regards to E-cigarettes, vaping, and the use of them in general. Over the last couple of years the use of both vapes and E-cigarettes has continued to increase and you see all ages participating in smoking them. I don’t know how many times I have had someone tell me that they do it because they don’t think there are any affects that come from it because it is “water vapor” or that they believe this is a better option than smoking cigarettes. Based on the research that you provided about diacetyl that is present in the flavors for the vaporizers, I feel like the hazards need to be presented to consumers of the products in a more apparent matter. Those who smoke E-cigarettes or vapes may not be necessary being made more susceptible to develop lung cancer, but are still increasing their risk of developing some sort of pulmonary disease. This ultimately comes down to the advertising of the products and that they are targeting many who are unaware of what these chemicals can do to them, especially the middle and high school students. I think it will be interesting and possibly scary to see what research shows for those who start to smoke these alternatives at such a young age and the affects they present on their lungs later in life.
ReplyDelete