LOS ANGELES – In a report posted today by news media network NBC, eighteen THC vape cartridges were tested by cannabis testing lab CannaSafe, with surprising and disturbing results.
Three cartridges were purchased at legal dispensaries and, according to CannaSafe’s test results, showed “no heavy metals, pesticides, or residual solvents like Vitamin E.”
However, from the fifteen remaining cartridges, which were purchased from illicit sources; according to CannaSafe, thirteen of those cartridges showed the presence of Vitamin E.
Ten of the illicit vape cartridges also tested positive for pesticides.
According to NBC’s report, test results showed the illicit cartridges also “all contained myclobutanil, a fungicide that can transform into hydrogen cyanide when burned.”
The NBC report also featured an image of actual test results from CannaSafe.
The story also exposed the easy availability of vape liquid supplies in Los Angeles. NBC reported that illicit manufacturers are typically supplied with e-liquid ingredients and vape cartridge components manufactured in China.
Early speculation on what may be causing the mysterious vaping-related respiratory condition, which has spread to 803 cases in almost every U.S. state, was focused on Vitamin E acetate (also called tocopheryl acetate) as a possible culprit. Since then, officials at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have stressed that no one substance or product has been pinpointed as causing lung damage from vaping.
The latest fatality was reported today and is the second death attributed to vaping in Oregon. This latest report brings total deaths to thirteen; two in California, two in Kansas, two in Oregon, and one each in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi.
The number of cases attributed to the vaping-related condition increased by hundreds yesterday, to more than 800 affected in forty-six states, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
