The number of illnesses associated with the consumption of e-cigarettes has continued to increase in the US. The US Department of Health told CDC that 2051 people were now affected by the lung disease. The number of deaths increased accordingly to 39.
A week ago, the CDC had reported 37 dead and 1888 sick. The cause of the lung damage is still unclear, according to CDC. Recently, there had been evidence that THC products might play a role. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is in cannabis and is mainly responsible for the intoxicating effect of the drug.
About 70 percent of the patients are reportedly male and the average age of the patients is 24 years. The CDC recommends not buying e-cigarettes from street vendors - especially if they contain THC. Furthermore, users are advised not to add to the liquids substances that are not intended by the manufacturer.
Juul takes mint flavor from the market
No similar increase in lung damage has been reported across Europe. The complaints still seem to be limited to users in North America.
In Germany, ingredients for e-cigarettes are much stricter regulated than in the US. Here, the Tobacco Products Act states that "in the production of the liquid to be evaporated other than nicotine, only ingredients are used which in heated and unheated form pose no risk to human health."
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The controversial manufacturer Juul Labs had already stopped the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in the US in October. Now Juul announced that it would also take the cartridges with mint flavor from the market.
Juul was particularly criticized because of the offensive social media marketing of his products to younger audiences. A court had last banned the e-cigarette manufacturer to deliver new cartridges because they lacked the electronic waste symbol.
President Donald Trump had already announced that it was banning the sale of flavored liquids in the US and calling the use of e-cigarettes a "major problem". Above all, the increasing consumption of minors should be contained. Massachusetts was the first US state to ban the sale of e-cigarettes in September.
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In Germany, more and more young people and young adults try e-cigarettes, as a survey commissioned by the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) showed. Between 2014 and 2018, the proportion of 16- to 29-year-olds who had ever moved to an evaporator almost doubled from 11 to 20 percent.
Traditional cigarette smoking is, according to recent studies, still more harmful than the consumption of e-cigarettes. Tobacco smoking, for example, has a detrimental effect on the cardiovascular system. Many smokers have therefore switched to e-cigarettes or a combination of both, which significantly reduces the risk of complications according to the current state of knowledge. However, there are also many newcomers (why e-cigarettes, at least in Germany, are the lesser evil, read in this comment).
