Chemicals linked with severe respiratory disease found in common e-cigarette flavors.
Diacetyl, a flavoring chemical linked to cases of severe respiratory disease, was found in more than 75% of flavored electronic cigarettes and refill liquids tested by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Two other potentially harmful related compounds were also found in many of the tested flavors, which included varieties with potential appeal to young people such as Cotton Candy, Fruit Squirts, and Cupcake.
“Recognition of the hazards associated with inhaling flavoring chemicals started with ‘Popcorn Lung’ over a decade ago. However, diacetyl and other related flavoring chemicals are used in many other flavors beyond butter-flavored popcorn, including fruit flavors, alcohol flavors, and, we learned in our study, candy flavored e-cigarettes,” said lead author Joseph Allen, Assistant Professor of Exposure Assessment Science at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
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Citation
Allen JG, Flanigan SS, LeBlanc M, Vallarino J, MacNaughton P, Stewart JH, Christiani DC. 2016. Flavoring chemicals in e-cigarettes: diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in a sample of 51 products, including fruit-, candy-, and cocktail-flavored e-cigarettes. Environ Health Perspect 124:733–739; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510185.
Learn more:
- Full paper in Environmental Health Perspectives
- Press Release from the Harvard Chan School
- E-Cigs Could Give You Lung Disease (Interview with The Naked Scientists)
- Chemical Flavorings Found in E-cigarettes Linked to Lung Disease (Harvard Gazette)
- The Butter Flavor Chemical Used in Microwave Popcorn Is Also in E-Cigs (TIME)
