Free shipping over £15

Same day dispatch (4pm Mon-Fri)

20,000+ 5 star reviews

Cashback on every order

THE TRUTH ABOUT EVALI

Vaping and Lung Disease

Vaping has enabled millions of smokers to quit an incredibly unhealthy habit. In the UK, vaping is regarded as far safer than smoking and as a highly effective quitting aid.

But from time to time, you will see stories that make you wonder if vaping is really that safe.

One of those stories highlighted numerous incidents of a lung disease known as EVALI that appeared in the USA. As you might expect, the headlines were eye-catching and the articles related to the subject were senationalised. Here's the truth about EVALI.

A Brief History of Vaping

The Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik began working on his idea for an electronic cigarette in 2001. Within two years he had adapted the ultrasound approach to include a piezoelectric atomiser. The resulting "cigalike" spawned copycat products which inspired consumers to improvise, adapt and develop newer, more rewarding vaping devices.

Things in the U.K. really began to take off in 2009 and, by 2011, the vape business sector was beginning to flourish. Eight years of growth and success passed by without a major problem but then, in 2019, the EVALI lung outbreak threatened everything.


Malfunctioning Devices


For a decade, the only problems facing the vaping industry were those of product misuse. Stories circulated of batteries exploding and the possibility of infants having access to base nicotine liquids. As serious as individual incidents undoubtedly were, the numbers were incredibly small and simply mirrored any product involving the use of a lithium-ion cell or potentially poisonous substances.

In fact, compared to exploding mobile phones or accidents involving household cleaning products, the rates seen were insignificant.

EVALI Outbreak

Everything changed overnight following a couple of newspaper stories and some social media posts originating from the United States - EVALI had arrived.

To begin with, in April 2019, the lung condition didn't have a name. Young people were presenting at surgeries and hospitals with a severe condition. People reported shortness of breath, coughing, fatigue, body aches, fever, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. Those who were admitted as patients were frequently placed into intensive care units.

By September there were 2,758 confirmed cases and 64 deaths. With an unknown cause at play, clinicians began to look for common themes. In time, a number of the teens confessed to using electronic cigarettes and the American anti-vape activists jumped for joy - this was just the thing they'd secretly hoped would happen. Within days, the disease had a name. Well, three names until they could all agree: "Vaping-Associated Pulmonary Injury " (VAPI), " Vaping-Associated Lung Injury " (VALI), and "E-cigarette, or Vaping, product use Associated Lung Injury " (EVALI). The important thing was that those were against vapes could question their use and seek to have them banned.

Potential Cause Revealed

Computerised tomography (CT) scans were being performed and "ground glass opacities " were discovered on lungs. This term described the images where shades of grey appear, indicating lung damage, although many who lacked understanding claimed it demonstrated ecig vapour contained glass particles.

The fear factories were going into overdrive. Fingers were being pointed at Juul pods, flavours in e-liquids and mystery additives being put into juice by tobacco companies. People even tried to claim the particles were metals from vape coils.

But all of the suggestions failed to account for the fact that the disease was only being seen in America. If the issue was directly attributable to vaping then the problem would have been seen around the world.

American anti-vaping puritans didn't want to accept it, but something else was going on. They hid behind the reluctance of the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to accept this glaringly obvious point as it insisted the matter was "vaping related " and advised everyone not to use ecigs.

One by one, some victims began to confess that when they said "vaping " they meant that they were using cannabis.

The Evidence

Advocates on social media shared information that they believed it was an ingredient in one brand of sealed cannabis pod being used.

At the same time, teens in fear of their parents, the police, or hoping to grab a slice of a court pay-out denied ever using such a product. It was becoming clear that all of the cases were linked to black market, illegal tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) pods.

THC is the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives the users the sense of feeling "high ".

It wasn't the THC; it was a substance called vitamin-E acetate. The oil-based chemical compound was added to the THC liquid as a thickening agent. Long term vapers who had been following the development of the science surrounding vaping immediately recognised why this means there were no other cases around the world - e-liquids are water-based solutions. If vitamin-E acetate were to be added to e-liquid, it would promptly and obviously separate in the bottle.

Eventually, Doctors Poulas, Lagoumintzis and Farsalinos said, "While the exact cause for the condition is still under investigation, there is a strong association between EVALI and the use of THC-containing vaporiser liquids, and vitamin E acetate has been found in product samples tested by the FDA and state laboratories and in bronchioalveolar lavage fluids recovered from the lungs of patients tested by the CDC".

The British government then issued clear advice on the subject and stated that of all of the reported adverse reactions to vaping in the UK, none were attributable to EVALI. At the same time, expert Professor Michael Siegel was accusing the CDC of "concealing and suppressing information on youth marijuana vaping to over-hype harms of e-cigarettes ".

Professor John Britton, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco & Alcohol Studies, celebrated a new study that, " provides further evidence that vitamin E acetate in vaping fluids causes cases of EVALI ." In pointing out that all e-liquids in the UK have to conform to exacting standards, and that vitamin E acetate is a banned substance, Public Health England also confirmed that vaping remains at least 95% safer than smoking: "There has been no similar lung disease outbreak in England " ,

You can be assured that Vapekit.co.uk strives to bring you only the very best of vaping products and that none of our eliquids contain vitamin E acetate (or any other banned substance).

Bundle & Multibuy Deals Available!

Save more when you stock up on your favourites.

Shop Now