Chemical flavoring linked to lung disease found in e-cigarettes, Harvard study finds
A dangerous chemical flavoring linked to a severe respiratory disease known as “popcorn lung’’ was found in more than 75 percent of flavored electronic cigarettes and refill liquids tested in a new study by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Diacetyl—a chemical flavoring that can be found in artificial butter, and some fruit and alcohol flavors—was detected above the laboratory limit in 39 out of 51 of the e-cigarette flavors tested in the study. More than 7,000 varieties of flavored e-cigarettes and refillable flavored nicotine liquids are currently on the market, according to the Harvard Gazette, the university’s official news outlet.
The study was published online Tuesday in Environmental Health Perspectives.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the flavoring industry have previously warned about diacetyl because of the association between inhaling the chemical and the disease, which first appeared in workers who inhaled artificial butter flavor in microwave popcorn processing facilities, the Gazette reported.
Chemicals acetoin and 2,3-pentanedione, also thought to be potentially harmful, were detected in 46 and 23 of the 51 flavors tested, respectively, according to the study.
Read more about the study at the Harvard Gazette.
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