In response to a new study which found that lung damage from vaping resembles chemical burns, Decker School of Nursing Professor Geraldine R. Britton, director of the Binghamton University Interdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Program, offers the following.
"Many have believed that the underlying problem with vaping products is the addition of oils, including glycerin," she said. "Oils or other toxins coat the lining of the bronchioles, increasing inflammation, and blocking the exchange of essential gases such as oxygen before they can reach the alveoli. These recent findings from the Mayo Clinic also point to an inflammatory response with a demonstrable increase in macrophages. Some pathologists have labeled the resulting condition BOOP: Bronchiolitis Obliterans with Organizing Pneumonia."
Britton oversees the Binghamton University Interdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Program, which brings together faculty from several University departments, plus administrators and students, to research tobacco use. She has also developed a tool that assesses tobacco/ends use in the college-aged population. She is currently conducting focus groups in high schools on vaping and is also conducting a 24-hour blood pressure monitoring study which includes those who vape.