A lack of evidence combined with lung problems linked to vaping lead to questions about the products' safety.
Illustration: Mariah Barnaby-Norris
As of this February, more than 2,700 cases of e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI), including 64 that resulted in death, had been identified in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 76 per cent of patients with those injuries had reported using products containing THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis.
No single substance has been blamed for the lung injuries, but so far, no vaping product has been ruled safe.
"A lot of kids and younger adults think vaping is safer than smoking, and it's not," says University of Alberta pulmonary medicine expert Dilini Vethanayagam, '90 BMedSc, '92 MD.
Canada's chief public health officer attempted to reassure Canadians last year that regulated vaping products are safer than those on the black market. However, in Vethanayagam's opinion, Health Canada approved those products for market without enough data.
Launching safety investigations after products become freely available is far from adequate, she says, and it jeopardizes the health of young consumers especially.
"There is no clear data on what's in all these e-liquids people are using," says Barry Finegan, PhD, a recently retired U of A smoking cessation expert and anesthesiologist.
"My advice to consumers would be not to engage in this experiment, because that's what it is-an experiment on your health in uncontrolled circumstances," he adds.
"Nothing inhaled outside of prescribed, and tested, inhalational medications is safe for your lungs," sums up Vethanayagam. "Your lungs are meant for respiration."