What We Know (And Don't) About The Dangers Of Vaping

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Short Wave – "What We Know (And Don't) About The Dangers Of Vaping"

Date: October 16, 2019
Hosts: Maddie Sofia (A), Guest: Allison Aubrey (B), Interviewee: Piper Johnson (C)

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Main Theme

The episode investigates the ongoing epidemic of vaping-related illnesses, focusing on what science currently knows—and crucially doesn’t know—about the dangers of vaping, especially among young people. Through personal stories, government response, chemical analysis, and expert insight, Maddie and Allison unpack why vaping is causing severe health crises and sound a warning on its underestimated risks.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Piper Johnson’s Story: The Face of the Epidemic

• Personal Account: Piper Johnson, an 18-year-old who began vaping in high school, experienced sudden, life-threatening respiratory symptoms as she prepared for college.
  • Quote: “My oxygen levels just kept going down, like, more and more. First they put me on, like, 1 liter, then 2 liter, and then I had to be moved to the ICU because I was on 35 liters of oxygen.” – Piper Johnson (01:22)
• Medical Confusion: Initially treated as an infectious disease, her case underscores how unprepared medical professionals are for vaping-related illnesses.
  • Quote: “All along, the doctors are like, oh, you have pneumonia...It took a long time before they realized this was vaping.” – Allison Aubrey (01:38)

Unclear and Multiple Causes of Illness

• THC and Counterfeit Cartridges: Many patients report using THC vapes, especially bootleg products like “Dank Vapes.”
  • Explanation: “It’s sort of a label that gets slapped onto some of these cartridges, these bootleg cartridges, and you really don't know what's in them.” – Allison Aubrey (04:48)
• Complexity: No single cause identified—both THC and nicotine-only vapes are implicated.
• Chemical Cocktails: Vaping liquids may contain nicotine, volatile organic compounds (e.g., benzene), metals, and chemical flavorings (not actual fruit).
  • Key Chemical: “Diacetyl is definitely not something you want to be voluntarily putting into your lungs. It can lead to this condition where the tiny air sacs in your lungs become scarred and narrowed.” – Allison Aubrey (06:09)

Unknown Ingredients, Limited Oversight

• Regulation Gap: Authorities admit they can't say for certain what is in vaping products.
  • Quote/Expert: “There may be a lot of different nasty things in e-cigarette or vaping products, and they may cause different harms in the lung. It is pretty much impossible for you to know what is in the e-cigarette or vaping product.” – Anne Schuchat, CDC (06:36)
• Prevalence: Teen vaping is surging—25% of high school seniors report using nicotine vapes in the past month.
  • Quote: “That's an astounding number.” – Allison Aubrey (07:02)
• Marketing Tactics: Juul and others advertise vapes as a “healthier” alternative or as quitting aids, despite risks to non-smokers.
  • Quote: “There is no chance at all that hooking a new generation of young people on nicotine via these e-cigarettes is a good thing to do.” – Allison Aubrey (08:00)

Ongoing Public Health and Regulatory Response

• CDC and FDA Actions: Increased warnings and criminal investigations, but “it’s still a big hot mess.”
• Patchwork Legislation: No federal bans yet (despite talk); some states moving ahead independently.

The Personal Impact: A Parent’s Perspective

• Allison’s Story: Even health journalists struggle—her own son vaped, and it took detectives’ work and family discussions to figure it out.
  • Quote: “We finally confront him and, you know, he acknowledges, yes, it is a vape. And quote unquote, everybody is doing it.” – Allison Aubrey (09:28)
• Addictiveness and Youth Vulnerability: New nicotine formulations (“nicotine salts”) make vapes even more addictive, impacting brain development and concentration.
  • Quote: “There's now evidence that it primes the brain for addiction to other substances...There's just a host of stuff that's bad about this.” – Allison Aubrey (09:40)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On the pain of vaping-related illness:
  • “I don't want to have anyone else go through like the pain I experienced because honestly, it was the most painful experience of my entire life. Like, I was laying in my bed, like, sobbing because it hurt so bad to breathe. Like, nobody should have to go through that.”
    – Piper Johnson (04:14)
• On youth vaping culture:
  • “I mean, I remember watching these videos of kids kind of showing off smoking in the classroom, like when the teachers backs were turned...As if it were designed to be hidden.”
    – Maddie Sofia & Allison Aubrey (10:16–10:24)
• On teens as guinea pigs:
  • “Our generation, my generation of teenagers, they're the guinea pigs here.”
    – Allison Aubrey (10:40)

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Timeline & Timestamps

• 00:38–02:31 – Piper Johnson’s story and acute health crisis
• 03:55 – Piper’s recovery and activism
• 04:29–06:22 – Dangers of vape chemical ingredients, focus on nicotine vs. THC, and “Dank Vapes”
• 06:45–07:02 – Teen vaping statistics and rising popularity
• 07:15–08:05 – Juul’s marketing and harm reduction for adult smokers vs. risk for youth
• 08:12–08:55 – Regulatory action and state initiatives
• 09:00–10:11 – Allison’s family story and the powerful addictiveness of modern vapes
• 10:16–10:40 – Vaping culture among teens and marketing's insidious effects

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Tone & Style

• Conversational, approachable, and tinged with concern and urgency
• Uses personal storytelling and light humor to make complex health issues relatable
• Factual and careful, with regular reality checks on emerging science vs. uncertainty

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Conclusion

In just under 15 minutes, this episode delivers a compact but potent primer on the mysteries and perils of vaping, especially for youth. Through stories like Piper’s, expert testimony, and personal confessions from both teens and parents, listeners come away understanding that the true health risks remain unknown—and that the stakes, especially for a generation of young users, are potentially very high.

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For more:

• Listen to the full episode for Piper’s voice and more frontline details.
• Stay tuned for tomorrow’s episode on the science of ASMR and slime culture.

Transcript

[A]

This message comes from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center this October. For a short time, your gift to MSK will be triple matched to help support breast cancer research, treatment, and care. Donate [e-mail] match you're listening to Shortwave from NPR. Maddie Sofia here. Thanks for checking out this episode of Shortwave, the daily science podcast from npr. Here today with NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey. Hey, Alison.

[B]

Hey there, Maddie.

[A]

Today we're talking about something that's in the headlines a lot right now.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Vaping.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And you're gonna start us off today with a story about a young woman that you met recently, Piper Johnson.

[B]

Right. So she's 18, and when she was in high school, her sophomore year, she started vaping. Then last summer, right around the time when her family was packing up the car to take her off to college, she started feeling some pain in her chest.

[C]

You know, I didn't really think anything of it. I took some Advil for it. And then the day we left, I was like, I think I have bronchitis or something. Like, I was running a fever. My heart rate was, like, super, super high. I was super, like, lethargic and stuff.

[B]

So instead of heading to the college campus, she and her mom went to the hospital, first to the ER and then to the icu.

[C]

My oxygen levels just kept going down, like, more and more. First they put me on, like, 1 liter, then 2 liter, and then I had to be moved to the ICU because I was on 35 liters of oxygen.

[A]

Wow. That. She is, like, barely breathing on her own, right?

[B]

Gasping for air. And here's the crazy thing. I mean, all along, the doctors are like, oh, you have pneumonia. Oh, we're gonna put you on antibiotics. It must be some kind of infectious disease. Have you been around other sick people? It took a long time before they realized this was vaping.

[C]

Oh, I was terrified. I had no idea what was happening to me because I was, like, perfectly healthy a week ago.

[B]

I think Piper's story really brings into focus this wider epidemic of vaping. There are about 1300 people like Piper who've become crazy sick right in the hospital, walking around one day, healthy, a week later, barely breathing. So these cases, these very odd cases that come on out of nowhere have really begun to shine a spotlight. This habit of vaping that used to be talked about as an alternative to smoking.

[A]

So today on short wave, what we do know and what we don't about why vapers are getting sick.

[D]

This message comes from netsuite. Is it a bull market or a bear market. Can someone invent a crystal ball? Until then, over 43,000 businesses have future proofed their business with NetSuite by Oracle. The number one AI Cloud ERP bringing accounting, financial management, inventory and HR into one fluid platform. With real time insights and forecasting, you're able to peer into the future with actionable Data. Download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning for free at netsuite.com shortwave this message comes from Dell Technologies. Your new Dell PC with Intel Core Ultra helps you handle a lot. When your holiday to DOS get to be a lot. That's the power of a Dell PC with Intel inside. Get [e-mail] deals this message comes from Mint Mobile.

[A]

Starting at 15amonth, make the [e-mail] Switch 45. Upfront payment for 3 months. 5 gigabyte plan equivalent to 15amonth. Taxes and fees extra. First 3 months only see terms. So how's Piper doing now?

[B]

You know, she's doing a whole lot better. She's actually in school doing fine. She has stopped vaping and now she has become this advocate to get other young people, young adults like her, to stop. She participated in a rally. She demonstrated outside the offices of the E cigarette company Juul this month as part of this big awareness campaign.

[C]

I don't want to have anyone else go through like the pain I experienced because honestly, it was the most painful experience of my entire life. Like, I was laying in my bed, like, sobbing because it hurt so bad to breathe. Like, nobody should have to go through that.

[A]

Do we know why these people are getting sick from vaping?

[B]

That is the million dollar question, Maddie. A majority of patients acknowledge vaping thc, that's the psychoactive component of marijuana. Many have used a type of counterfeit vapes called dank Vapes.

[A]

Okay, dank vapes. Are we talking about a company?

[B]

Well, not a company, really. It's sort of a label that gets slapped onto some of these cartridges, these bootleg cartridges, and you really don't know what's in them.

[A]

Right. Dank is like code for dank is kind of cool.

[B]

Good weed, I think.

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

Am I right?

[A]

I'm very impressed. Keep going.

[B]

Okay. But you know, that said, the outbreak of this epidemic is unclear. I mean, in the beginning there was this hunt for this singular cause. You kept hearing from the cdc, any day, like, no stone unturned, we're gonna find the thing causing this epidem. Well, turns out it's probably a lot more complicated. I mean, for starters, some people have Only been vaping nicotine. And let's just talk about what you find in these nicotine vaping fluids. All right? For starters, there's nicotine, one of the most addictive substances known. Then you add in a little volatile organic compound such as benzene. Who doesn't want that in their lungs? Put some trace metals in there. Sound appealing? Then you're gonna top off this cocktail with the flavorings. Now, we know that the flavorings are part of what team are attracted to. They say, oh, it's watermelon flavor. It's, you know, juicy fruit flavor. Well, guess what? They don't make the watermelon flavor out of the fruit. They make these things out of chemicals. And one chemical they use is called diacetyl. Diacetyl is definitely not something you want to be voluntarily putting into your lungs. It can lead to this condition where the tiny air sacs in your lungs become scarred and narrowed.

[D]

And.

[B]

And this is not lost on investigators at the cdc. Here's the woman leading the investigation. Her name is Anne Schuchat. There may be a lot of different nasty things in e cigarette or vaping products, and they may cause different harms in the lung. It is pretty much impossible for you to know what is in the e cigarette or vaping product.

[A]

So the government doesn't even know what's in this stuff. Right. And yet it feels like it's becoming more and more popular.

[B]

Absolutely. Teen vaping has definitely become more more popular. Federal surveys show that 25% of high school seniors say they have vaped nicotine in the last 30 days.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

That's an astounding number.

[A]

Okay. And we should say for people who are like, why is it surprising that vaping is unhealthy? This stuff has been heavily marketed as a healthy alternative to cigarettes, as a way to get you off cigarettes. Right?

[B]

That's right. I mean, Juul, which is far and away the biggest company making these e cigarettes, earlier this year launched a big ad campaign called make this Way. I was a pack a day smoker for 33 years.

[D]

I popped a pot in it and took a couple of puffs, and I was surprised at how similar it was to a cigarette.

[B]

He uses juul in the house whenever he wants. So it keeps him in our house instead of keeping him out of our house.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

You know, I should point out that it is possible that if you're a two pack a day cigarette smoker, switching to e cigarettes could be beneficial. There could be some harm reduction there. But public health experts agree that There is no chance at all that hooking a new generation of young people on nicotine via these e cigarettes is a good thing to do.

[A]

Okay, so we mentioned the government can't say exactly what these things are that might be dangerous for some people. Is there anything they are doing in the meantime?

[B]

Well, you know, they're doing lots of things. The CDC has intensified its warnings. The FDA has galvanized its criminal unit to start investigating. But really right now, it's still a big hot mess. I mean, we're talking illicit THC regulated, you know, e cigarette. There's so many possibilities out there. I will say that the regulation of e cigarettes clearly falls under the FDA purview. And President Trump at one point came out in support of a national ban on flavored e cigarettes. But so far there's been no action on the federal level. We have seen states step in to act independently.

[A]

Right, right.

[B]

And more states are looking into it.

[A]

So this is something you've talked about before, but you know, this is personal for you. You've got the teens at home.

[B]

That's right. I have two teenage and my older son was a freshman in high school. And so one day we were in the driveway and my husband spotted this plastic metal y thing that was cracked on the driveway and he picked it up and my husband was like, I think this might be this vaping thing.

[A]

Your husband was like, that's a dank vape, Alison.

[B]

No, we were both sort of clueless, right? Here we are, these middle aged people, our son is vaping and we're like, what is this?

[A]

Right.

[B]

So we finally we confront him and you know, he acknowledges, yes, it is a vape. And quote, unquote, everybody is doing it. Right. You know, And I think the reason why my husband and I were so alarmed by this is that this stuff, nicotine is so incredibly addictive. Right. I mean, there's now evidence that it primes the brain for addiction to other substances. It can definitely get in the way of learning. It can cause attention problems. I mean, there's just a host of stuff that's bad about this. And Juul and other vape makers have found a way to make these vapes really, really potent. They're using nicotine salts. And experts say this may be making it even more addictive.

[A]

Right. And there really is this like vaping culture in high school your son kind of alluded to.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

I mean, I remember watching these videos of kids kind of showing off smoking in the classroom, like when the teachers backs were turned. Right.

[B]

As if it were designed to be hidden. Yes. Yes.

[A]

And so there's that culture combined with the like truly addicting substance of nicotine that feels like it's just creating this environment for a new generation to pick up nicotine in a way that's kind of been advertised as, you know, not so bad.

[B]

And, you know, critics are saying, look, I mean, our generation, my generation of teenagers, they're the guinea pigs here.

[A]

NPR health correspondent Allison Aubrey, thank you.

[B]

Thank you, Maddie.

[A]

I'm Maddie Sofia. Come back tomorrow for an episode about the science of ASMR and how that's connected to a big Internet trend of the moment. Slime. That's tomorrow on Short Wave from npr.

[D]

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