How does MENTHOL affect the lungs?

[THE]

One guy said in a thread on here (that I can't find now) that menthol is just another form of alcohol and that it won't hurt you..

I've always been told by random people that "menthol will crystallize your lungs"..

Now I read what little I could get from this thread http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-e-liquid-discussion/127568-death-menthol.html and it seems a more accurate thing to say would be that "menthol crystallizes IN your lungs"..

But I don't see how it could.. Every time I heat pure menthol crystals, they dissolve and they do it very easily..

Like the one guy said too.. In cigarettes the menthol is in this tar that coats your lungs.. and that stuff doesn't go away.. believe me, it doesn't. Once you have tobacco tar on something it's a sticky upset horrible mess and heating it doesn't do much of anything..

So who knows for SURE whether or not it is safe for us to vape menthol? My sister vapes it quite a bit, and I know it has to be better than the menthol cigarettes.. but she's cutting back on menthol and I'd like to know if that is even necessary..

Thanks guys

 

[THE]

I have been reading FAR TOO MUCH, lately.. So I am not going to research this, not right now anyway ... if anyone just KNOWS .. please shortcut me on this one

Found this
Do menthol cigarettes " crystallize" your lungs ? - Yahoo! Answers
"Two main mechanisms have been offered to explain how menthol cigarettes could particularly elevate lung cancer risk. First, the products of menthol combustion might directly exert a carcinogenic effect on lung tissue. Alternatively, menthol’s cooling and anesthetic properties might permit larger puffs, deeper inhalation, or longer retention in the lungs, all of which would result in increased exposure to the carcinogenic elements in tobacco smoke.

There seems to be no credible evidence that any other problems arise with mentholated vs non-mentholated tobacco products.
Source(s):
Registered Respiratory Therapist" <--- Supposedly


This makes sense, to me.

 

[spider362]

As far as I know Menthol has been one of the main ingredients for clearing the lungs used in room vaporizers for the sick room ever since the tea kettle was invented with no known harmful effects.

 

[Algernon]

spider362 makes a point.

Email Vicks to see if they've had any issues with it, it's a main ingredient in all of their salves and breathing aids.

 

[eHuman]

Not sure about the lungs but it tastes like ... when you vape it.

 

[StormFinch]

Like I mentioned in the other thread, the FDA is all over menthol trying to figure out a reason to ban it like they did the other flavors. If it actually crystallized in the lungs, I imagine they would have jumped on such a reason with great abandon and believe me, they are searching.

Menthol is found in Nicotrol and Nicorette inhalers, some asthma and decongestant inhalers, nasal sprays, cough drops, chewing gum, mouthwash and humidifier liquid. And strangely, or maybe not so strangely enough given it's analgesic properties, is present in amounts of up to 0.1% tobacco weight in non mentholated cigarettes.

Menthol is found naturally in mint oils, especially peppermint.

Menthol has been shown to improve breathing in individuals with asthma. It works as an expectorant to thin and loosen mucus.

From what I can find, the only definitive study on the effects of inhaled menthol on lung tissue was done on Fisher rats for a maximum of 79 days. The single side effect noted was irritation of the lungs at the highest dosage, 0.26 ppm.

If the idea of menthol crystals bothers anyone, peppermint is the perfect replacement since it still contains menthol without the crystallization process.