Vapeboss – Vapes or electronic cigarettes are becoming increasingly popular and are developing along with the growing number of vape consumers both domestically and internationally. However, along with the growth of the vape industry, there is also a lot of news about vapes that is still unclear and almost dubious.

For example, rumors about popcorn lung disease caused by illegal vapes and other misinformation related to vapes as a cause of acute kidney failure.

Quoting from the tobacco innovation website, the Executive Director of The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocate (CAPHRA), Nancy Loucas, explained that negative cases surrounding electronic cigarettes often occur in many countries and are imported cases that are not necessarily consistent with the characteristics of users in the related country.

The following are some things that cause misconceptions about vape products:

Popcorn Lung

Bronchiolitis obliterans, or popcorn lung, is a condition where the airways in the lungs narrow, causing coughing and shortness of breath. The misunderstanding began when a 17-year-old man in Canada had to be rushed to the hospital emergency room due to shortness of breath after using an e-cigarette.

News sources (NBCnews) stated that the man had used liquid with added THC. For information, THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol is a psychotropic substance derived from the cannabis plant. However, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the US food and drug regulatory agency, prohibits the use of THC oil as a liquid mixture for vaping.

Similarly, in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK, the UK prohibits the use of diacetyl, a substance similar to THC, in vape mixtures. To date, no cases of popcorn lung have been found in the UK.

Research conducted by the Yale School of Public Health in 2020 stated that accusations of vapes causing popcorn lung could be said to be baseless. The research stated that the main cause of popcorn lung cases was vitamin E acetate added to cartridges containing THC.

So far, this substance cannot be mixed with vape liquid and is unwilling to dissolve with liquid nicotine. Thus, besides being not recommended and classified as illegal, its use also carries a high health risk.

Not a Cause of Kidney Failure

Cases of acute kidney failure in Indonesia are thought to be caused by contamination of ethylene glycol (EG) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Some parties link these substances to vapes, then conclude that vapes can cause kidney failure. In fact, the solvent used in vape liquid is propylene glycol (PG), not PEG and EG. Toxicologist, dr. Shoim Hidayat explained that the potential for vapes to cause kidney failure is very small.

According to him, PG has a very low level of danger so its side effects are not significant. He added that PG is also commonly used not only for medicine, but also for food, cosmetics, and other industrial purposes.

Currently, cases of acute kidney failure are under scientific investigation by the Ministry of Health and the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency. The government is looking for the exact cause of the kidney failure cases that occurred in Indonesia.

Health Risks

The comparison of risks between vapes and cigarettes is not a new discussion. Many studies have been conducted to provide evidence that vapes are classified as lower risk than conventional cigarettes, such as research from the Royal College of Physicians London in 2016 which stated that so far vapes are considered to have lower risk content because they do not produce TAR and are free of cancer-causing chemicals.

A 2018 study by The National Academics of Science Engineering Medicine even proved that vapes are a gateway for adults to quit smoking. In addition to lower chemical levels, replacing cigarettes with vapes has also been proven to significantly reduce the risk of organ health.

Addiction to Vapes

A study conducted by Research Square LLC on vape and cigarette users in the United States proved that vapes have a lower potential for abuse than conventional cigarettes. Not only that, Research Square LLC research also showed that the likelihood of individuals becoming addicted to vapes is much smaller compared to individuals who use conventional cigarettes.

The research, published in 2022, also supports the argument that vapes are proven to be more effective in helping to reduce smoking habits, even more effective than products such as nicotine patches used on the skin and nicotine gum.

Vapes Produce Smoke

Referring to research conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information in the United States, it explains that vape emissions have lower levels of chemicals than cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke emissions also last longer than vapes (about 20-40 minutes), while vape aerosol disappears in less than 2 minutes. So far, according to the National Health Service UK, there is no strong evidence that vape aerosol can harm people around.

Toxicologist from Airlangga University, Shoim Hidayat, also revealed that the content of vapes has a lower risk than conventional cigarettes. Shoim explained that TAR (Total Aerosol Residue), which is usually found in cigarettes, is not present in vapes. The heating process in vapes does not produce smoke and has a 90 percent lower risk than cigarettes.