Acetate Culprit in Recent Minnesota Vaping Illnesses

Minnesota state health officials say the 12 people who were hospitalized with vaping-related lung illness in June and July all had used products containing vitamin E acetate.

Five of the 12 cases required ICU care and ventilators, and all are now recovered or recovering. The average age was 18, but patients were as young as 14 and old as 46, according to a news release from the state, according to news reports on twincities.com.

Vitamin E acetate is an additive sometimes used as a solvent for bootleg versions of the vaping cartridges containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously identified the additive as dangerous when inhaled.

The Minnesota Department of Health said that most of the patients identified had reported vaping products containing THC, though some reported vaping only nicotine.