From New York Times (3 days ago) ...
First Death in a Spate of Vaping Sicknesses Reported by Health Officials
If the respiratory illnesses can be traced to
.-laced vapors, public health officials and doctors expressed concern that it may signal the emergence of a second front in the battle against youth vaping: the growing use of unregulated, bootleg or black market liquids.“We believe that they are getting empty cartridges from somewhere and filling them with their own products,” said Nancy Gerking, assistant director of public health in Kings County, Calif., which has had numerous cases. “We don’t know what they are cutting it with or anything else.”
Until recently, these cases have been off the radar of most doctors and public health officials, who were already struggling to stop youths from vaping standard e-cigarettes. But
liquids and oils have become more widely available online and in many stores. And because the ingredients may not be disclosed at all, unsuspecting consumers may be exposed to a cocktail of hazardous chemicals.The e-cigarette market has broadened to counterfeiters and a range of devices that can be packed with different substances, including
, but also various flavors and concoctions that may be mixed inexpertly.Public health officials, however, declined to say if they yet are seeing a pattern that would make clear whether the problematic products are made by mass-market companies or counterfeiters, or whether the inhalants involved are standard to many vaping products or made or mixed by consumers themselves.
The recent revelations could also further complicate the tarnished image of the growing e-cigarette market. For several years, the industry and top-selling companies, like Juul, have faced scrutiny because of the rising popularity of e-cigarettes among teenagers, which threatens to create a new generation of nicotine addicts who may become eventual cigarette smokers.
