A new study adds to the growing evidence linking vitamin E acetate to the surge of vaping-related lung injuries.
Researchers at the Minnesota Department of Health examined 20 illegal THC vaping products seized in September and similar vaping products provided by 11 patients who experienced a vaping illness or injury. They compared those cartridges to 10 illegal THC vaping cartridges produced before the outbreak began earlier this year.
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The 20 cartridges seized this fall, as well as those submitted by patients, all contained vitamin E acetate, researchers. But the 10 pre-outbreak ones did not.
Vitamin E acetate is a synthetic form of vitamin E found in some vaping products. It has become a common thickener in vaping liquids containing THC, the psychoactive chemical agent in marijuana.
"The findings further support a potential role for vitamin E acetate in causing lung injury associated with vaping products," Dr. Ruth Lynfield, a Minnesota health official told the Associated Press.
Since March, about 2,290 people have become ill and at least 47 people have died after using a vaping product. There are deaths still under investigation.
Though based on a small sampling, the new data supports earlier findings from the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which found vitamin E acetate in the lung fluid of 29 patients with a vaping-related illness or injury, a condition now referred to as EVALI. Almost all of the patients said they used a vaping product containing THC.
The researchers caution that it is too soon to completely rule out other possible culprits for the outbreak of EVALI. Vitamin E acetate is also used in food, dietary supplements and skin care lotions. There are no reports of illness or injury related to those products.