MINNEAPOLIS — Public health officials in New York say a common vitamin supplement could link the state’s recent cases of vaping related lung injuries.
According to the New York State Department of Health, 34 people have suffered lung injuries and health officials found Vitamin E Acetate at "extremely high levels" in close to all of the cannabis samples the patients used.
Vitamin E is usually harmless when taken as a pill or used on skin, but the health officials are investigating it's impact when inhaled, because of its oil-like properties.
There are now 361 confirmed or suspected lung injury cases linked to vaping nationwide, including 27 now being investigated in Minnesota.
Officials with the Minnesota Department of Health say patients with confirmed cases in the state all reported vaping both nicotine and THC. They are currently testing several of the products, but a spokesperson tells KARE11 it is too early to know whether they share a common link, including Vitamin E.