Brandi Ewing, director or respiratory services for St. Peter’s Health Partners, was interviewed by WTEN/News10 for its story on health concerns surrounding the use of e-cigarettes.
Ewing discussed how synthetic nicotine and other chemicals impact the lungs when inhaled.
From the story:
“There’s cotton candy, there’s bubble gum,” Brandi Ewing, Director of Respiratory Services at St. Peter’s Health Partners, said. “The problem with it is there are so many different chemicals and things that are in the ‘vape juice’ itself, and for a while, it was unregulated at all.”
On top of flavoring, Ewing added that e-cigarettes are designed to look like your standard USB or even a pen used for doing homework.
As of April 14, the FDA closed the loophole by implementing a law to regulate synthetic nicotine products. Ewing said the crackdown couldn’t come soon enough as the chemicals inside vape products are taking a severe toll on patients.
“It makes it that it not only damages the lung tissue, but it’s also coating sections of your lung where you’re supposed to be exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide,” Ewing said. “So, they’re not even functioning correctly. So, it’s really bad.”
Click here to watch WTEN’s report.
