There is currently no empirical evidence that vaping or the use of e-cigarettes causes ‘Popcorn Lung’.
Defining Popcorn Lung
Popcorn Lung is a slang term for a condition called ‘bronchiolitis obliterans’. The lung disease affects your smallest airways, making you cough and short of breath. Your lungs hold all of the air that you inhale, and there are two tubes leading into your lungs called the bronchi. From the Bronchi, you have around 30,000 more tubes or ‘branches’ called bronchioles and this makes up the bronchial tree. At the end of those bronchioles, there are small air sacs called alveoli, where oxygen is passed through. Simply put, Popcorn Lung affects the bronchioles and the functionality of them to pass air through to the lungs. It irritates the alveoli and surrounding scar tissue, and causes difficulty in breathing.
The chemical that causes Popcorn Lung
Diacetyl is the chemical that is known to be a direct cause of popcorn lung or bronchiolitis obliterans. Diacetyl is an organic compound with an intensely buttery flavour. It can be found in butter, beer and wine, honey, coffee and dairy products like milk, cheese and yoghurt.
Is it used in Vaping products?
This is a very vague question and one that requires context. Public health England state the following on diacetyl and e-cigarettes ‘diacetyl is banned as an ingredient from e-cigarettes and e-liquids in the UK. It had been detected in some e-liquid flavourings in the past, but at levels hundreds of times lower than in cigarette smoke. Even at these levels, smoking is not a major risk factor for this rare disease.’
To put this into context, in the UK, you shouldn’t be able to find diacetyl in e-liquids, but with so many brands and many not based or manufactured in the UK, there is no guarantee you won’t find it in your e-liquids. It is always best to check the manufacturer websites, and look out for lab reports posted with the ingredients they use.
What does the evidence say?
As aforementioned, there is currently no evidence to prove that vaping causes popcorn lung, only detections of the chemical ‘diacetyl’ in many e-liquids. The same chemical is found in most dairy products, meaning we consume it everyday. The level of diacetyl found in e-liquids (when found) is 100 times lower than in cigarettes.
Our advice…
We have three main pointers for you if you’re still worried about vaping and popcorn lung:
1. Don’t stop here – We know enough, but we’re not scientists, we sell e-cigarette products. We advise you to continue your research to make an informed decision on the safety around e-liquids.
2. Check the ingredients – We advise you to check the ingredients of all e-liquid products. The ingredients can usually be found on the manufacturers website, if you can’t find them there, we advise you to contact the manufacturer directly and ask for lab reports.
3. Ensure you only buy e-cigarette products from retailers that are TPD compliant – The TPD is the tobacco products directive, a European union law that regulate the sales of tobacco products. If retailers sell products that are not TPD compliant, they have not been regulated and knowing the true source of ingredients isn’t possible.
Does Vaping Cause Popcorn Lung?
There is currently no empirical evidence that vaping or the use of e-cigarettes causes ‘Popcorn Lung’.
Defining Popcorn Lung
Popcorn Lung is a slang term for a condition called ‘bronchiolitis obliterans’. The lung disease affects your smallest airways, making you cough and short of breath. Your lungs hold all of the air that you inhale, and there are two tubes leading into your lungs called the bronchi. From the Bronchi, you have around 30,000 more tubes or ‘branches’ called bronchioles and this makes up the bronchial tree. At the end of those bronchioles, there are small air sacs called alveoli, where oxygen is passed through. Simply put, Popcorn Lung affects the bronchioles and the functionality of them to pass air through to the lungs. It irritates the alveoli and surrounding scar tissue, and causes difficulty in breathing.
The chemical that causes Popcorn Lung
Diacetyl is the chemical that is known to be a direct cause of popcorn lung or bronchiolitis obliterans. Diacetyl is an organic compound with an intensely buttery flavour. It can be found in butter, beer and wine, honey, coffee and dairy products like milk, cheese and yoghurt.
Is it used in Vaping products?
This is a very vague question and one that requires context. Public health England state the following on diacetyl and e-cigarettes ‘diacetyl is banned as an ingredient from e-cigarettes and e-liquids in the UK. It had been detected in some e-liquid flavourings in the past, but at levels hundreds of times lower than in cigarette smoke. Even at these levels, smoking is not a major risk factor for this rare disease.’
To put this into context, in the UK, you shouldn’t be able to find diacetyl in e-liquids, but with so many brands and many not based or manufactured in the UK, there is no guarantee you won’t find it in your e-liquids. It is always best to check the manufacturer websites, and look out for lab reports posted with the ingredients they use.
What does the evidence say?
As aforementioned, there is currently no evidence to prove that vaping causes popcorn lung, only detections of the chemical ‘diacetyl’ in many e-liquids. The same chemical is found in most dairy products, meaning we consume it everyday. The level of diacetyl found in e-liquids (when found) is 100 times lower than in cigarettes.
Our advice…
We have three main pointers for you if you’re still worried about vaping and popcorn lung:
1. Don’t stop here – We know enough, but we’re not scientists, we sell e-cigarette products. We advise you to continue your research to make an informed decision on the safety around e-liquids.
2. Check the ingredients – We advise you to check the ingredients of all e-liquid products. The ingredients can usually be found on the manufacturers website, if you can’t find them there, we advise you to contact the manufacturer directly and ask for lab reports.
3. Ensure you only buy e-cigarette products from retailers that are TPD compliant – The TPD is the tobacco products directive, a European union law that regulate the sales of tobacco products. If retailers sell products that are not TPD compliant, they have not been regulated and knowing the true source of ingredients isn’t possible.
Need more help?
Get in touch with us here.