E-CIGARETTE IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH
This statistic is relevant to college students because if teens are likely to start vaping, they'll continue this habit during the transition to adulthood or move on to trying tobacco cigarettes too. According to the World Health Organization, e-cigarette aerosol emissions pose health risks for both user and non-users. There are many factors, including battery power, heating temperature, and chemical substance, that indicate the type and level of effect on humans inhaling the aerosols. This is why it's so difficult for researchers to pinpoint exact health effects from vaping. Scroll down to explore what we know!
Recent News
What we know:
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Tests show THC-containing e-cigarettes & vitamin E acetate play a major role in the outbreak.
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Vitamin E acetate is safe to consume or apply to skin, but the inhalation of this substance may "interfere with normal lung functioning"
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As of February 18, 2020, there have been 2,807 hospitalized EVALI, E-cigarette or Vaping Associated Lung Injury, cases or deaths reported
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The lung injury outbreak emphasizes how the effects of vaping are still to be discovered. In addition to the multiude of factors, consider the potential effects of inhaling vaporized toxicants present in the aerosols produced by e-cigarettes.
The CDC states that e-cigarette aerosols or vapor could potentially contain harmful substances, depending on the battery power, nicotine concentration, e-liquid, and use behaviors. Determining potential health effects of vaping is challenging due to the variety of e-cigarette and e-liquid products present.
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Hover over the boxes to learn how they could interact with your body.
Recognize that may substances in e-liquids are FDA approved for ingestion and skin application, but the effects on how these substances are inhaled are unknown. Even though there is ambiguity in how e-cigarette aerosols may cause health issues, consider the risk possibility of inhaling these chemicals next time you vape or are surrounded by those who vape.
HOW TOXICANTS ARE INHALED
It's crucial to know how air travels through your body because the respiratory system is responsible for transporting oxygen to your blood and expelling carbon dioxide. When a toxicant is inhaled, though, it may surpass various body barriers and inhibit normal functions that allow proper gas exchange for breathing.
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Nicotine, for example, can be inhaled when vaping, enter your blood stream and pass the blood brain barrier to attack your nervous system. This would then affect brain development in adolescents or postnatal/fetus development.
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With vaping, you are exposing yourself and those around you to all kinds of chemicals that we don't necessarily understand yet.
Recent studies by the CDC show that adults are using e-cigarettes to quit tobacco smoking; however, don't completely stop using tobacco products and are, instead, using both products (known as "dual use"). Quitting the habit of consuming both cigarettes and e-cigarettes is best for your health.
VAPING & COVID-19
The National Institute on Drug Abuse released a report recently on the potential risks for e-cigarette users during the COVID-19 pandemic. With at least 12.9% of college students vaping, we have to be aware of and prepare for the possibility of young adults experiencing health complications. Because coronavirus attacks the lungs, this disease could be a "serious threat to those who smoke tobacco or marijuana or vape."
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So next time you (young person who vapes) think that COVID-19 won't affect you, think again. Stay healthy~