Black-Market Vapes Test Positive for Dangerous Compounds
They could even deliver hydrogen cyanide. Not good.
By Marty Munson
Just two weeks ago, the sudden lung illness associated with vaping had hit 450 people in 33 states and the Virgin Islands, and there had been six deaths. Now, the latest data from the CDC puts the toll at 805 cases in 46 states, and 12 people have died. About three-quarters of victims have been male.
While nobody has pinpointed the exact cause, many victims reported vaping THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis (some reported just vaping products containing nicotine). Drilling down farther, scientists think the link may be stronger with black-market vapes.
So NBC news launched an investigation to see what’s really inside vape cartridges, sending 18 different ones—some from legal dealers, others from the black market—to a top testing lab, CannaSafe, in California. Vaping products from legal dispensaries, according to the NBC report, didn’t contain heavy metals, pesticides, or solvents like Vitamin E, a compound that’s under suspicion as a potential cause of the illness.
But 13 out of the 15 black market THC cartridges had Vitamin E. Of the 10 tested for pesticides, all were positive.
Even more alarming: Every single black market vape also contained a fungicide called myclobutanil, according to NBC, which can transform into hydrogen cyanide when burned. According to the CDC, hydrogen cyanide “interferes with the normal use of oxygen by nearly every organ of the body.”
The CDC advises against buying bootleg vape liquids and also against modifying e-cigarettes in any way.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu