President Duterte, according to his closest ally, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, wants to know the adverse effects of vaping. The answer isn’t as smoky as vape emissions. The seven deaths in the United States linked to vaping should be enough.
With the seven deaths, US’ Centers for Disease Control is already investigating 380 confirmed and likely cases of severe lung disease linked to vaping. While the CDC is continuing to work with the Food and Drug Administration to determine the safety of e-cigarette use, Americans have been urged to stop vaping as they conduct their investigation. People who do use e-cigarette products should monitor themselves for symptoms, for example, cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea and vomiting — and promptly seek medical attention for any health concerns.
To be clear, the US investigators are still unsure what in e-cigarettes is causing these severe lung illnesses, and the reported cases include both nicotine and THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) products. Amid the CDC’s investigations, President Donald Trump has announced that they plan to crack down on vaping and ban flavored e-cigarettes.
Trump’s warning: “People think it’s an easy solution to cigarettes, but it’s turned out that it has its own difficulties.”
What is in e-cigarettes?
E-cigarettes came onto the market about ten years ago and while they have fewer toxins than traditional cigarettes, they still deliver harmful particles and chemicals directly into the lungs.
According to a scholarly article in people.com by Jullie Mazziotta, medical experts are saying “there’s a lot in the aerosol emitted by a vaping device or an e-cigarette that is known to be toxic to the lungs and that includes things like ultra-fine particles, which are generated by the aerosol or the vaper. Thus, the liquid gets vaporized which means there can also be heavy metals in there — the ultra-fine particles themselves quickly penetrate into the lungs and hit the bloodstream. Those particles are “very inflammatory” to the cardiovascular system and the lungs and have been associated with heart disease. Plus, there are chemicals in e-cigarettes that experts say are known to cause permanent lung damage. The flavored packs that are popular and come in flavors like mango, watermelon and strawberry lemonade can also generate harmful chemicals that can hurt the lungs.”
As to the question of President Duterte if secondary smoke from e-cigarettes is harmful, second-hand smoke may not be directly the risk. It’s the vaping and the vaper itself that could be the issue.
Now, should the government wait for a vaping person in the Philippines to die before it acts?
While vaping is included among regulated acts under an Executive Order passed by President Duterte in 2017, it can be further strengthened by stricter, vaping-specific regulations.
