電子煙健康危機:導致肺部疾病和癲癇大綱

Vaping health crisis: the latest on lung injuries, and seizures

電子煙健康危機:導致肺部疾病和癲癇

Over the last several years, public health authorities have sounded the alarm about teenagers vaping — especially as the popular Juul vape took off on social media. But the more recent safety crises in vaping are a little more concrete: exploding vape pens, seizures, and lung injuries.

過去幾年，公共衛生部門已發出關於青少年抽電子煙的危險信號——尤其是在Juul電子煙風靡社交媒體的時候。但近來，有關電子煙的安全隱患變得更爲具體：電子煙筆爆炸、癲癇和肺部疾病。

Before the attention-grabbing lung injuries, lawmakers were already nervous about how many kids were taking up vaping. In December 2018, the US Surgeon General declared vaping "an epidemic."

在肺部疾病爆發前，立法者已對越來越多的青少年抽電子煙一事感到焦慮。2018年12月，美國公共衛生總監宣稱，電子煙是“一種流行病。”

Some of vaping's risks have to do with their batteries, which can explode. Those explosions are rare, but sometimes deadly. Since June 2018, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reported an uptick in reports of vaping-related seizures. Vaping has also been linked to a spate of lung injuries, some of them deadly, too — though it's unclear what precisely is causing the injuries.

電子煙的某些風險與其電池爆炸相關。雖然爆炸案例極爲少見，但有時一旦發生，卻會帶來致命後果。自2018年6月，美國食品與藥品監管局關於與電子煙相關的癲癇發作的報道已有所增加。電子煙還與一系列的肺部疾病相關，有些也是致命疾病——儘管造成這些疾病的具體原因尚不明確。

Policymakers have begun to take action: banning flavored vapes, for instance. The FDA has warned consumers not to use THC vapes. Some companies have also stopped selling e-cigs. Vape makers are still DIYing their own vape liquids, though, and teenagers have proven crafty in getting around age bans.

政策制定者已開始採取行動，例如：禁止多口味電子煙。美國食品與藥品監管局已警告消費者不要抽四氫大麻酚電子煙。有些公司已停止出售電子煙。然而，電子煙生產商仍在自己製作電子煙油，而青少年也有各種各樣的方法應對年齡限制問題。

Still, safety studies on vapes lag well behind the industry's popularity. The long-term effects of vaping are unknown; vapes are probably better than smoking, but that doesn't necessarily make them safe. We know so far that using high voltages in vapes can release formaldehyde-causing chemicals; we also know that vaping exposes users to more toxic chemicals and heavy metals than people who don't vape. We also know that vaping might increase your risk of heart disease. Plus, nicotine is still addictive — and we know addiction can be distressing.

儘管如此，關於電子煙的安全性研究仍比不上該行業的受歡迎程度。長期抽電子煙所產生的影響尚不可知；電子煙也許比香菸更健康，但這並不意味着它就是絕對安全的。到目前爲止，我們知道電子煙設備使用高壓會釋放引起甲醇的化學物質；我們也知道，相比不抽電子煙的人而言，抽電子煙會使菸民接觸更多的有毒化學物質和重金屬。我們還知道，電子煙可能會增加人們患心臟病的風險。此外，尼古丁依舊會使人上癮——我們知道，上癮是十分痛苦的。

As of August 2019, the FDA had received 127 reports of seizures or other neurological symptoms. That's over the course of about a decade, but it's still pretty alarming. That investigation kicked off in April 2019, after three cases involving both seizures and Juul use were brought to the attention of the FDA in the fall of 2018. That investigation is still ongoing.

截至2019年8月，美國食品與藥品監管局已收到127例關於癲癇或其他神經系統症狀的報告。雖然統計時長跨度約爲10年，但這一數據依然使人震驚。2019年4月前連續發生了3起癲癇發作案例，且2018年秋天Juul電子煙的使用也引起了美國食品與藥品監管局的注意。相關部門自此展開了調查，目前調查仍在繼續。