The spinMyth 03 of 14
“Vapes caused the 2019 lung-injury outbreak that killed dozens of Americans.”
The 2019 outbreak (EVALI) was strongly linked to vitamin E acetate in illicit THC cartridges — not the nicotine vapes smokers use to quit.
The evidence
In 2019–20, 2,807 people in the US were hospitalised and 68 died. Investigators traced it to vitamin E acetate, a thickener added to black-market cannabis cartridges.
Vitamin E acetate was found in lung fluid from 48 of 51 patients tested. 82% of patients reported using THC products, and most of those got them from informal sources such as friends, family or dealers.46
Cases dropped away once vitamin E acetate was identified, and the CDC issued its final update in February 2020.45 Its advice at the time: adults using nicotine vapes as an alternative to cigarettes should not go back to smoking.46
Questions about your own situation? The AI helper answers from this site.
Why this site exists
Nicotine hooked me. Smoke nearly killed me. Vapour gave me my breath back.
Read my story →