The Canadian Vaping Association Responds to Study Linking E-Cigs to Lung Injuries

Source from:  Vapingpost 10/12/2020

The large-scale study titled, “Heating in vaping device as cause for lung injury, study shows,” was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, and initially set out to explore the effects of vaping on the cardiovascular system. However, claimed the researchers, the study took a different turn when experiments conducted on rodents suggested that e-cigs with nickel-chromium alloy heating elements led to lung injuries.

“The results were so impactful, we felt it imperative to release the initial findings early so that electronic cigarette users could be cautioned sooner, especially considering E-cigarette users are at increased risk of COVID-19,” said senior study author Dr Robert Kloner.

The researchers failed to share basic (required) details about the study

In response to these claims, the CVA pointed out that to everyone’s shock the researchers failed to disclose the study “methods”, which not only are part of the must-have basic details that every study must contain, but would also in this case have a major impact on the obtained results.

“Researchers fail to provide any detail on methods used for their vapour exposure system to determine if the study accurately mimicked practical use by a human. The study states, ‘The lung injury occurred without nicotine, THC, or Vitamin E additives; and may also have been related to higher wattage of power settings on the E-cigarette devices.’ As the researchers have failed to disclose the exact atomizer and wattage used for the study, there is no way to verify if the study followed manufacturer guidelines.”

The CVA went on to explain why the wattage level (and therefore sharing it) makes a world of difference. “Atomizers have varying resistances and have a corresponding allowable power setting. If the wattage is too high, the cotton used to absorb the liquid will dry out and can ignite. This would result in smoke instead of vapour. In a practical application, this would not go unnoticed by the user and would be incredibly unpleasant, forcing the user to stop immediately.”  Enditem