While vaping has already been categorized as a Level 5 Super-Epic Pandemic by the Fun Police, authorities have finally narrowed down the cause of all these “mysterious vaping illnesses”. Surprise, surprise: it’s not “vaping” that’s causing collapsed lungs and sudden onset lung disease – it’s Vitamin E in THC cartridges.
For those of you who have been following along, we’ve pointed out the misleading nature of the media coverage regarding this spate of illnesses. While headlines and subheads laid the blame on vaping as a whole, it has actually always been traced back to illegal THC cartridges since these cases first broke. Now, however, we have an actual culprit which may help authorities crack down on the appropriate targets. Theoretically, this would be a way to get the heat to ease up off the vaping industry. Not likely, but a girl can dream, right?
Washington Post first broke this story over the weekend, announcing that health officials had discovered a link between these recent cases of lung disease. While these cases were seemingly separated by geography, time, and even by the actual substance the victims had been vaping, each of them tested positive for one thing: vitamin E acetate.
While Vitamin E is found naturally in all kinds of food, including canola oil and almonds, acetate is actually a derivative of the vitamin. Even so, vitamin E acetate is also sold as a nutritional supplement for use in topical skin treatments. In these cases, the chemical is not known to be deadly, or even harmful. The key, according to experts, lies in the chemical composition of vitamin E acetate. While it is technically not an oil, the oil-soluble derivative is likely to cause many of the symptoms found in the recently hospitalized victims. Symptoms like shortness of breath, raspy cough, and chest pain are all possibly linked with vitamin E acetate inhalation.
Buried somewhere beneath this information is the fact that FDA’s testing found “nothing unusual in nicotine products that had been collected from sick patients”. Washington Post’s source claimed that they were “not authorized to speak publicly” and one has to wonder if the relative safety of these victims’ nicotine products is what the FDA was interested in hiding. While the FDA has been extremely quick to point out the “dangers” of vaping in the past, they are seemingly not interested at all in sharing the actual cause of all these illnesses. In fact, authorities from both the CDC and FDA were quick to point out that they “are not ruling out adulterants in nicotine vaping products”.
While nearly all victims had purchased marijuana vapes off the street, authorities are extremely hesitant to exonerate vaping. After all, these “vaping illnesses” have formed the backbone of sweeping legislation across the country in recent months. If it comes out that legitimate vape companies (like Juul) are, in fact, not to blame for these hospitalizations, it could easily lead to a cooling-off period. The anti-vaping zealots could quickly find public perceptions shifting, leaving them without the easily angered base of support they had previously enjoyed.
While the federal agencies are extremely hesitant to announce causality, they have continued testing, looking for “any compounds that are present in the samples” in order to potentially identify other chemicals which may be to blame. At present, they claim to have collected over 100 samples for testing. After discovering vitamin E acetate in a New York lab, a federal lab has confirmed the findings. According to their report, “very high levels of vitamin E acetate” were found in “nearly all” cannabis samples tested, which included over a dozen samples. Their report also added that vitamin E acetate “was not seen in the nicotine-based products that were tested. As a result, vitamin E acetate is now a key focus”.
According to chemistry professor Michelle Francl, “Vitamin E acetate is basically grease. You have to heat it up pretty hot” to vaporize it, and once this is done, “you’re breathing in who-knows-what”. The basic chemistry seems to indicate that, while you can heat vitamin E acetate to the point of vaporization, it returns to its base composition inside your body. Since the chemical is oil-like and greasy, it is able to coat the inside of your lungs. Needless to say, this can easily cause the kinds of complications seen in victims across the country.
While no legitimate nicotine companies use vitamin E acetate (also known as tocopherol acetate) in their products, a company called Honey Cut uses it as the primary ingredient in a thick diluent they manufacture. According to experts, this diluent is commonly used by black market operators alongside cannabis oil in counterfeit cartridges.
On the other side of the argument, a scientist from the University of Rochester shared his doubts with Politico. According to him, tocopherol acetate could not have caused lipoid pneumonia, which was found in some of the patients. While this may be true, lipoid pneumonia could have been caused by any number of things. This type of pneumonia can be a reaction to other types of contamination, including fungicides or pesticides.
Others say that it couldn’t be THC oil since not all patients have been linked to illegal THC cartridges. On the other hand, many of the patients in question are young people and even the older patients could easily have been loathed to disclose their use of illicit THC products. It’s safe to say that a fair amount of these patients could have been less than forthcoming regarding their personal vaping habits.
The real crime here, however, is the CDC and the FDA working in tandem to demonize e-cigarettes, when we’ve known all along that the cause was illegal THC cartridges. Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University, said, “in their zeal to demonize e-cigarettes, the CDC and other health agencies have put the lives of our nation’s youth at risk. They should have issued a warning 11 days ago. During the past 11 days, how many youths continued to vape THC oils because of the failure of health agencies to accurately convey the known information about the potential causes of the outbreak?”
While Siegel paints a grim picture of the cynicism and opportunism which seem to guide the CDC and FDA at present, his words are unlikely to change their course. It’s become increasingly clear in recent months that federal agencies, alongside local governments, have taken aim at the vaping industry. Study after study has come out in direct contradiction with the official positions of these agencies, yet they have thus far remained undeterred. Time will tell if our government will take this outbreak seriously and, for once, put the lives of American youth ahead of their own agenda.
