Yale Study Finds Unknown Dangers In Juul Vapor

Source from:  Hartford Courant 07/31/2019

A new study conducted by Yale University researchers found previously unknown dangers in Juul electronic cigarette liquids.

The study, led by the lab of Julie Zimmerman and published Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, focused on the effects of the common flavoring vanillin, according to a news release from Yale.

Vanillin, which is banned from regular cigarettes but is allowed in e-cigarettes, was found to irritate airways when combined with the acetals in the aerosol, also known as vapor, produced by the Juul, the release said.

“People often assume that these e-liquids are a final product once they are mixed,” said Hanno Erythropel, the study’s lead author. "But the reactions create new molecules in the e-liquids, and it doesn’t just happen in e-liquids from small vape shops, but also in those from the biggest manufacturers in the U.S.”

This is the first time acetals have been identified in the aerosol component of Juuls, Erythropel said.

“We were surprised that levels in Juul vapor were already close to safety limits for workplaces where vanillin is used, such as in bakeries and the flavor chemical industry,” co-author Sven-Eric Jordt from Duke University said in the release.

Little is known about the health effects of inhaling acetals, but research suggests chemicals resulting from vanillin used in flavoring, such as the acetals that are created when combined with the aerosol, are more likely to irritate airways than vanillin itself, the study found.

A spokesperson for Juul Labs Inc. downplayed the researchers’ findings.

“The researchers’ hypothetical exposure analysis failed to take into account real world conditions, including realistic human exposure to vapor products like JUUL,” Lindsay Andrews, the spokesperson, said in an email.

Based on the vanillin content of each e-liquid pod, a person would have to consume at least seven pods a day to reach the environmental threshold of vanillin, Andrews said.

“The researchers created a risk assessment model based on an occupational environmental standard for ambient air, which as applied to analyses of vapor products assumes a person would inhale only aerosolized vapor for eight hours per day, 5 days per week, for decades,” she said.

In these air conditions, the researchers multiplied the vanillin content of an approximately 79 milliliter puff of vapor by over 12,000, Andrews said.

Vanillin can be found in common Juul flavored pods, such as “Crème Brulée,” “Fruit Medley” and “Cool Cucumber.”

Four of the eight flavors tested, including “Fruit Medley,” contained menthol, used to decrease the bitterness of nicotine and often leads to increased nicotine use, the Yale release said.  Enditem