Myth: Vaping causes Popcorn Lung: Difference between revisions
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Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health issued a press release about the study, "[https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/e-cigarette-flavoring-chemicals-linked-to-respiratory-disease/ Chemicals linked with severe respiratory disease found in common e-cigarette flavors] (Link saved on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151212202826/https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/e-cigarette-flavoring-chemicals-linked-to-respiratory-disease/ Wayback Machine]). While the safety of e-cigarettes does need to be monitored, the study and the press release did not compare the levels of the chemicals found to what is inhaled from smoking a combustible cigarette. Neither the paper nor the press release said people will get Popcorn Lung from vaping. They just raised concern about the possibility. | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health issued a press release about the study, "[https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/e-cigarette-flavoring-chemicals-linked-to-respiratory-disease/ Chemicals linked with severe respiratory disease found in common e-cigarette flavors] (Link saved on [https://web.archive.org/web/20151212202826/https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/e-cigarette-flavoring-chemicals-linked-to-respiratory-disease/ Wayback Machine]). While the safety of e-cigarettes does need to be monitored, the study and the press release did not compare the levels of the chemicals found to what is inhaled from smoking a combustible cigarette. Neither the paper nor the press release said people will get Popcorn Lung from vaping. They just raised concern about the possibility. | ||
Carrie Arnold [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892907/ commented] on this study and said, "this study did not assess levels of diacetyl, 2,3-pentanedione, and acetoin in actual users, much less health effects. So it’s premature to assume that exposure to these chemicals via e-cigarettes causes health problems." | |||
A chemical of concern that might pose potential harm swiftly morphed into known harm, and word began to spread that vaping causes Popcorn Lung, even though there were no documented cases of it actually | The study and alarm over the potential danger of vaping made headlines across the US and globally. Most of the articles failed to mention there are [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892705/ more] of these chemicals in [https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/53/2/1801151 combustible cigarettes], and there are no documented cases of Popcorn Lung being caused by [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892932/ smoking] or vaping. | ||
A chemical of concern that might pose potential harm swiftly morphed into known harm, and word began to spread that vaping causes Popcorn Lung, even though there were no documented cases of it actually occurring. A 2015 report published in the [https://www.jsonline.com/story/archives/2019/09/18/diacetyl-popcorn-lung-chemical-e-cigarettes-coffee-roasting-plants/2078765002/ Milwaukee Journal Sentinal] gave a historical run-down of cases of Popcorn Lung in the food industry and questioned why Diacetyl was allowed in e-cigarettes. The American Lung Association added [https://web.archive.org/web/20160709232304/http://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2016/07/popcorn-lung-risk-ecigs.html information] about Popcorn Lung and vaping on their website in 2016. | |||
In 2018, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/the-promise-of-vaping-and-the-rise-of-juul Jonathan Winickoff], the former chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium, a pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, said that he "believes that the vape industry is co-opting the national wellness trend—when, in fact, vaping can cause something called bronchiolitis obliterans, or popcorn lung." | In 2018, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/14/the-promise-of-vaping-and-the-rise-of-juul Jonathan Winickoff], the former chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium, a pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School, said that he "believes that the vape industry is co-opting the national wellness trend—when, in fact, vaping can cause something called bronchiolitis obliterans, or popcorn lung." | ||
Schools, in an [https://www.theedadvocate.org/teaching-students-about-popcorn-lungs-disease/ attempt] to keep teens safe and discourage them from experimenting with vaping began telling [https://web.archive.org/web/20200806010833/https://www.minnetonkabreezes.com/sports/2019/12/20/popcorn-lung/ students] they could get Popcorn Lung from vaping. | Schools, in an [https://www.theedadvocate.org/teaching-students-about-popcorn-lungs-disease/ attempt] to keep teens safe and discourage them from experimenting with vaping began telling [https://web.archive.org/web/20200806010833/https://www.minnetonkabreezes.com/sports/2019/12/20/popcorn-lung/ students] they could get Popcorn Lung from vaping. | ||
Misperceptions about the risk of getting Popcorn Lung from vaping can lead some people who smoke to [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871623000443 avoid] trying this safer alternative to help them quit smoking. A point that was made by Jennifer Pierce, Anders Abelmann, and Brent Finley in their [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892932/ commentary] about the 2015 flavoring study. | |||
=What actions were taken to protect consumers after the study was released?= | =What actions were taken to protect consumers after the study was released?= | ||