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What is in a vape? Everything you need to know

The dangers of regular tobacco cigarettes are well documented. Much less is known about the ingredients in e-cigarettes.
Here's what's known about what's found inside vaping devices.RyanJLane / Getty Images

Here's what's known about what's found inside vaping devices.RyanJLane / Getty Images

By Erika Edwards

Hundreds of people nationwide have been hospitalized recently with severe cases of pneumonia or other lung illnesses — all believed to be directly linked to vaping. Investigators have not been able to pinpoint the exact cause. But here's what's known about what has been found inside vaping devices.

The main components

E-cigarette liquids, at the bare minimum, have three main components: flavors, sweeteners and solvents. Solvents are substances used to dissolve either nicotine or marijuana-derived compounds including THC or CBD so those ingredients can be inhaled. The solvents most often used in vapes are vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol. (THC is the compound in marijuana responsible for its high; CBD, or cannabidiol, is also found in marijuana, but doesn't have psychoactive effects.)

Vegetable glycerin produces the visible aerosol, or cloud, seen when vaping. It's made from vegetable oil. Propylene glycol is a clear, slightly syrupy liquid, and it's virtually odorless and colorless.

Sweeteners include sucralose and ethyl maltol. E-liquid flavors are wide-ranging, and can read like a wine tasting: "notes of vanilla" or "berries and herbal notes."

All of those ingredients — the solvents, the sweeteners and the flavors — are considered "generally recognized as safe" by the Food and Drug Administration. But that designation refers only to when those compounds are consumed as food. The ingredients take on different properties when heated into an aerosol, and little is known about the effects those ingredients have on the human body when inhaled.

Studies have shown that breathing in aerosolized propylene glycol may contribute to asthma. And a 2012 case report involved a woman who developed a condition called exogenous lipoid pneumonia after vaping for about six months. Doctors said her e-cigarette's oil-based solvents were the likely cause, and her condition improved when she quit vaping.

Sucralose has been found to break down and form cancer-causing compounds when it's heated to temperatures typically found in e-cigarettes, according to a study in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology.

But when heated, the flavors themselves — such as cinnamon — can become toxic, a study in Tobacco Control found.

One recent study from Yale University found that vanillin — an extract of the vanilla bean — transforms into chemicals called acetals when aerosolized. Those chemicals, the researchers said, may be especially irritating to the lungs and cause damage when inhaled.

Nicotine, THC and CBD

Nicotine is the highly addictive ingredient in regular cigarettes, and it can have an impact on teenage brains that are still developing. By itself, it's not known to be carcinogenic, but some lab research has suggested nicotine could promote tumor growth.

And the American Heart Association says nicotine can cause an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and a narrowing of the arteries, as well as increase the risk of a heart attack.

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Source: News Corp Australia Network:

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