Some reports attributed the problem to Vitamin E. Was Viitamin E oil the tainting substance?
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I have not dug into this issue at all. I wonder....maybe we can find something.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–2020_vaping_lung_illness_outbreak
"An outbreak of severe vaping-associated lung illness starting in 2019[2] is ongoing among users of vaping products,[3] almost exclusively in the United States.[4] The first cases were identified in Illinois and Wisconsin in April 2019; as of January 21, 2020, a total of 2,711 hospitalized cases, including 60 deaths have been confirmed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.[3] Cases peaked in September 2019, and have been slowly declining since.[3]"
"CDC investigators identified direct exposure to chemicals present in vaping products as responsible for the outbreak.[5] Vitamin E acetate is a very strong culprit of concern in the lung illnesses related to THC-based vaping products, but the CDC did not rule out other chemicals as possible causes.[3] Though patients have reported using vaping products containing THC, nicotine, or both types, THC users represent most of the cases.[3] The outbreak mainly affected young people, which is the group with the greatest prevalence of cannabis use in the US.[6]..."
Another link:
This link mentions both the black market THC and the E acetate
https://www.livescience.com/how-vaping-might-cause-death.html
"...The first is LUNG DAMAGE CAUSED BY INHALING VISCOUS OILS, which are sometimes added as THICKENING AGENTS TO BLACK-MARKET VAPING PRODUCTS, especially to THC-vaping cartridges, he said. ..."
and
"...One such oil is called vitamin E acetate, and it was found in many — but not all — of the product samples from patients..."
So it seems to be the thickening oil agents which are the culprits. It seems those oils can include the THC and the Vit E Acetate. I'm speculating here, but it seems apparent that breathing in a thickening agent deep into the lungs would constitute overall a Very Bad Idea. Those alveoli in the lungs are very tiny and sensitive. They are also the means for the oxygen from the air to reach the blood system. Coating them with oil would be cutting off their ability to do their job of keeping the person adequately oxygenated.
Why not just put a plastic bag over your head and have done with it?
[Not that I'm in any way advocating that. I would prefer that the young people and others doing the vaping would look into it and choose life and not death.]
My experience is that Vitamin E is the carrier fluid for the THC.
One should never inhale directly into the lungs ANY oil. Oil and water don’t mix and the water stays “under” the oil. Pneumonia.
YEs, that is what I remember. I don’t remember their reasoning for putting it.