HEALTHLINE ONLINE - The news about vaping from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) keeps getting more ominous.
Today, the CDC reported Trusted Source there are now 1,299 known cases of lung disease associated with the use of e-cigarette products.
The illnesses are likely due to a combination of factors, added Prue Talbot, PhD, a professor of cell biology at University of California Riverside who has researched the health impacts of vaping and concluded that concentration of metals in vaping aerosols have increased since tank-style e-cigarettes were introduced in 2013.
“The majority of reports have involved cannabis, suggesting aerosolized oils, including vitamin E acetate, may be involved," Talbot told Healthline. "But some reports involve electronic cigarettes that aerosolize nicotine but not oils. It’s also possible that the problems currently being reported have existed previously but were only recently recognized as being linked to vaping."
Whatever the cause, people are looking at vaping in a new light, which Arendt says can only help public safety.
“Generally, the public isn’t fond of using products that injure and kill, so hopefully awareness that e-cigarettes are not harmless will be enough of a deterrent,” she said.