The FDA and the National Institutes of Health have granted funding to a Louisiana State University professor so she can pursue research into the dangers of using e-cigarettes, which may include e-cigarette lung damage and other risks.

The LSU Reveille notes that there has been a vaping “epidemic” in the United States. Little research has been done into the long-term health effects of vaping, like e-cigarette lung damage. As vaping is a fairly new phenomenon, just now health professionals are beginning to understand the risks associated with vaping.

Professor Alexandra Noël, an assistant professor of comparative biomedical sciences at LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine, plans to change this this.

Her research into e-cigarette lung damage and other health effects aims to explore how lungs respond to various strengths of e-cigarettes. She hopes to not only understand the effects of nicotine in e-cigarettes, but the flavorings in them, as well. Noël’s research already indicates that the chemical in e-cigarettes, not just the nicotine, may indeed cause harm.

In particular, Noël will study vape users who do not smoke traditional cigarettes, but have become addicted to nicotine through their use of vapes.

Impact of E-Cigarettes on Youth

Experts have expressed that the vaping epidemic has hit young users particularly hard. This is partly because some e-cigarettes may have been intentionally marketed towards teens and young adults.

Vox explains that e-cigarette makers may have targeted teens through the use of attractive flavors and other marketing tactics in an effort to corner new users.  JUUL in particular has been accused of marketing to youth, even by state AGs. Targeting new users instead of existing smokers may have been an attempt to not compete with the market already cornered by big tobacco companies.

Teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable to nicotine addictions, says the FDA. Because the brains of young people are still developing, early exposure to nicotine may “rewire” a developing brain to form a powerful nicotine that can be extremely hard to shake. Reportedly, these early nicotine addictions can have lifelong health effects, possibly impacting attention, memory, and learning ability. Large amounts of nicotine can also lead to nicotine poisoning.

Noël stresses the importance of researching teen use of vapes by pointing out the high nicotine content of e-cigarettes. Though they are commonly marketed as harmless, even touted as smoking cessation tools, they can pack quite the punch, says Noël. In her words, “it is an astounding amount of nicotine that is being delivered by these products.” She notes that some teens are using four e-cigarette pods a day, the equivalent to four packs of cigarettes in a single day. Teens, however, don’t realize it – and high quantities of nicotine lead to addiction. 

The FDA’s choice to fund Noël’s research into e-cigarettes is not the administration’s only effort to curb the e-cigarette problem in this country. The LSU Reveille explains that in December the FDA has raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco, including in the form of e-cigarettes, to 21 years up from 18. 

This move received rare bipartisan support in the Senate. States have also made moves to curb the vaping epidemic. Some states have banned flavored e-cigarettes from being sold, while others have taken smaller steps. For her part, Noël hopes that her research will help contribute to more legislation being enacted that will better protect the public from the harm of e-cigarettes.