CDC Says Vaping Illness Breakthrough Points To Vitamin E Oil As A Cause

CDC Says Vaping Illness Breakthrough Points To Vitamin E Oil As A Cause As cases of vaping-related illnesses reach 2,051, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced a “breakthrough” in the search for a cause the first identified toxicant: vitamin E acetate.

Federal officials announced Friday they discovered an oily derivative of vitamin E in the lungs of patients hospitalized with vaping-related illnesses, a finding the principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called a "breakthrough."

Dr. Anne Schuchet, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), called Vitamin E acetate “a very strong culprit of concern” and referred to the discovery as “a breakthrough” in the investigation.

"For the first time, we have detected a potential toxin of concern: vitamin E acetate," Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC's principal deputy director, said in a call with reporters on Friday. Vitamin E acetate, an oil, is a synthetic form of vitamin E.

Schuchat was quick to point out that vitamin E acetate may just be one of many toxins fueling EVALI cases 39 of which have proven fatal but she noted that the health agency tested for many other substances, including plant oil, mineral oil, petroleum-based oil and MCT oil to no avail. “No other potential toxins were detected in the testing conducted so far,” Schuchat said.

The announcement of a possible cause of the lung injuries came soon after President Trump told reporters Friday morning the administration would raise the legal age to purchase electronic cigarettes nationally, likely to 21. The move is tied to a much-anticipated rule on flavored vaping products Trump said would be announced next week.

Vitamin E acetate is believed to be used as a cutting agent in illicit products containing THC - the component of marijuana that gets people high.

Investigators tested samples of fluid taken from the lungs of 29 patients with vaping illness in 10 different states, and found vitamin E acetate in all 29. No other oils, such as mineral oil or plant oils, were found at high levels.

“Vitamin E acetate is enormously sticky,” James L. Pirkle, MD, director of the division of laboratory sciences at the CDC, said on the call Friday. “You can think of it to be just like honey and so when it went goes into the lung, it does hang around.” Schuchat added that while it’s clear that vitamin E acetate can “interfere with lung function,” the next step is to figure out exactly how.

The overwhelming majority of lung illnesses were in people who vaped nicotine and THC or THC alone, but came as teen nicotine vaping numbers continue to soar which increased pressure on regulators to act.

The vaping injury patients also had a higher rate of using “Dank Vapes,” a class of largely counterfeit THC-containing products, according to the study.

Over 4,000 adults took the survey, which found among other things that EVALI patients are two times more likely to report the exclusive use of THC-containing products and nine times more likely to obtain them from informal sources.

E-cigarette use among high school students more than doubled from 2017 to 2019 to 27.5%. About 5.3 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes this year, up from 3.6 million in 2018.