UC San Diego

Electronic (e)-cigarette use and the practice of vaping has rapidly expanded both in adult smokers and previously nicotine naïve youths. Research has focused on harm reduction in adults using e-cigarettes to stop or reduce traditional cigarette use, but the short and long-term safety of these products has not been established. Vaping has more recently been associated with a growing list of pulmonary complications with the most urgent being the e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) epidemic. This review details the inhalant toxicology of vaping products, the described lung diseases associated with vaping with a focus on EVALI, and the predicted long-term consequences of e-cigarette use, including increased asthma severity.