A recent survey of Louisiana high schoolers yielded some rather alarming results: more than 1 in 4 high school students in the state reported vaping or using e-cigarette products. The survey was conducted by America’s Health Rankings in 2021 and had Louisiana within the top 4 when it came to electronic vapor product use among high school-aged students. While these products are still fairly new to the market and the study of their long-term health effects is still in its nascent stages, there is already cause for concern among many health experts when it comes to these products being used by teens and adolescents. Dr. Jay Kolls, a practicing pulmonologist and Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Tulane, warns that the unknowns in these products can be quite alarming. “They generate a heated aerosol, which in and of itself can be irritating to the lungs,” he says. “The lungs are very delicate. They are there specifically to transport oxygen and keep you alive. Anything beyond that is not advised and once they’re damaged, they cannot be repaired,” Kolls advises.
“The lipids and oil components in these products can also vary widely and can also be very damaging to the lungs,” Kolls warns. It may take some time for science to catch up to what the longer term effects of these products might be, but the warning signs are all over the place for pulmonologists who are keeping an eye on these potential issues. Dr. Kolls was actually part of an earlier study involving a group at the Primate Center who were given Juul pods as part of an experiment before the onset of COVID. “Within 24 hours, there was severe inflammation in the airway,” noted Kolls. “We’ve taken care of children and teenagers at Children’s here in New Orleans that have required intensive care because their lungs are so damaged from these products,” Kolls goes on to say.
While e-cigarette use has declined overall in high school students across the United States, here in Louisiana, the numbers have actually increased. In a survey conducted by the CDC in 2019, Louisiana e-cigarette use among high school students sat at 22.9% when it came to reported daily use. During a similar survey conducted in 2021, that number had increased to 25.5% in Louisiana. While time and resources may ultimately be the key to chipping away at the issue state-wide, it’s still a concerning note to many parents in the state.
Health care professionals emphasize raising awareness of the risks and the scientific unknowns of these products to your children, as many of them are still flavored and can be easily marketed to youths. Many lawmakers have tried to legislate against the flavoring of these products specifically over concerns of their marketability to young people, but those regulations can vary from state to state.
There is a wide variance when it comes to how these products are manufactured and the ingredients within them, and that’s a large part of the concern from many medical professionals. “The bottom line is, nicotine is addictive. In a developing brain, it can cause neurocognitive effects,” Kolls says. “This area is poorly regulated, so you really don’t know what you’re inhaling and the lungs are extremely delicate. A lot of these vapes are not just pure water. They’re an oil and water emulsion many times. It’s almost like inhaling MILK!” emphasizes Kolls. While many of these ingredients are still being studied, the aerosol created when smoking e-cigarettes has already been noted to contain toxic substances that can cause cancer and lung disease, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.