Vaping like gas attack – experts

Vaping damages the lungs in the same way as a poison gas attack, tests have revealed.

Experts in the US have warned of a looming public health crisis after examination of tissue samples found vapers had suffered direct injuries from noxious chemicals.

For the first time, scientists reviewed lung biopsies from a group of patients who had fallen ill after smoking e-cigarettes, two of whom had died.

The team at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, had been expecting to find lung damage as a result of fatty deposits from the vaping liquids.

Instead, they found more serious acute injuries of the type commonly seen in victims of gas attacks.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was published as concern about the safety of ecigarettes grows.

Of the 17 patients from whom samples were taken in the study, only eight had smoked cigarettes.

All had foamy accumulations indicating acute fibrinous pneumonitis, a type of scarring.

The study’s senior author, Dr Brandon Larsen, said: “It seems to be some kind of direct chemical injury, similar to what one might see with exposures to toxic chemical fumes, poisonous gases and toxic agents.”

Of the patients in the study, 12 had vaped with dagga or cannabis oil.

This could be significant because the vaping lobby and some scientists argue the recent spate of illnesses related to vaping are a result of THC, the principal psychoactive compound in dagga, or cannabidiol (CBD). – The Telegraph