May 18, 2019
Vidcast: https://youtu.be/PqKyUnQe-Mc
Need more reasons not to use e-cigarettes and to convince your children to avoid them? Besides the fact that they spew addicting nicotine and toxic flavoring chemicals? A study from the Harvard School of Public Health now finds bacterial endotoxins and fungal cell wall remnants in 75 popular e-cigarette products from 10 top-selling US brands.
The investigators studied 37 e-cigarette cartridges and 38 e-liquid products that are used to refill cartridges. They demonstrated that 23% of the products contained significant concentrations of gram-negative bacterial endotoxins and a whopping 81% of the products were contaminated with fungal by-products.
Other studies have confirmed that these bacterial endotoxins and fungal glucans trigger acute and chronic respiratory problems. Asthmatics or those with pre-existing lung disease would be particularly vulnerable.
This study joins so many others that underscore what is just common sense: don’t inhale poisons unless you have a death wish. If the latter is the case, please get some help.
Mi-Sun Lee, Joseph G. Allen, David C. Christiani. Endotoxin and (1→3)-β-D-Glucan Contamination in Electronic Cigarette Products Sold in the United States. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2019; 127 (4): 047008 DOI: 10.1289/EHP3469
#ecigarette #bacteria #fungi #endotoxin