Given the recent news of deaths from the vaping, or the use of electronic cigarettes, a scientist from the UNAM explains the risks of this way of smoking.
The researcher at the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Roberto Sussman, attributed the deaths of electronic cigarette users in the United States to use of liquids adulterated with cannabinoid oils obtained on the black market.
Sussman told Notimex that the adulterated oils used by the victims, in particular tetrahydrocannabinol and even some extracts of vitamin E, are insoluble in water and very dense, so when inhaled they cause serious lung damage by congesting the alveoli.
He denied that nicotine, or the flavorings used massively before the outbreak, had any effect on the 42 million users in the world who have used the vape or electronic cigarette for 10 years.
He cited a series of analyzes, according to which the young people used liquids adulterated with cannabinoid oils and by vaporizing the contaminated solution at temperatures between 180 and 220 degrees Celsius, these decompose into various types of waste.
“Contamination with insoluble compounds is the common denominator in all cases. In many cases, the waste from vaporizing the contaminated solution is lipid, so the result is lipoid pneumonia.”, He stated.
He said that there are some cases of eosinophilic pneumonia of autoimmune type also associated with the inhalation of pollutants not suitable to be vaporized by the electronic cigarette.
This had not happened before because the devices were used with solutions of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin, nicotine (optional) and flavorings, which vaporize without causing sudden lung damage.
To minimize the risk that it may happen, he said that regulation is necessary to establish strict quality control in the substances that form the solution that is vaporized in electronic cigarettes, whose guiding criteria should avoid contamination with non-solvent or non-solvent compounds. suitable for the vaporization process.
He regretted that in the United States, where the 450 affected and six deaths were registered, there was an "irresponsible reaction" and it was even called to stop the use of electronic cigarettes in general, without specifying the use of the adulterated substance.
In Mexico, the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) relayed the information.
However, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (FDA) did issue a statement to describe the precise causes.
The specialist said that by instilling panic, it is most likely that those who migrated from tobacco to electronic cigarettes, will resume tobacco, "which is much more harmful than using vaporizers correctly."
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