我们所知道的与电子烟有关的肺部疾病

我们所知道的与电子烟有关的肺部疾病

Hundreds of people have become sick from a mysterious vaping-related lung illness and several people have died. But federal health officials say they still don't know what's causing the devastating sickness.

数百人因一种与电子烟有关的肺部疾病而患病，还有几人死亡。但是联邦卫生官员表示，他们仍然不知道是什么导致了这种毁灭性的疾病。

The majority of those becoming sick with vaping-related illnesses are young men. (Photo: Vaping360 [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

More than half of the people who have become sick are under the age of 25, with 16% younger than 18. Nearly three-fourths of the patients are male.

超过一半的患者年龄在25岁以下，其中16%不到18岁。将近四分之三的病人是男性。

Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said on the call that the agency's office of criminal investigations had started "parallel investigative efforts." The office is investigating details about the products — where they were purchased, and how they were being used — but the agency isn't planning on prosecuting individual e-cigarette users.

FDA烟草产品中心主任米奇·泽勒(Mitch Zeller)在电话会议上表示，该机构的刑事调查办公室已经开始了“平行调查”。该办公室正在调查有关这些产品的细节——它们是在哪里购买的，以及它们是如何被使用的——但该机构不打算起诉电子烟的个人用户。

The laws around vaping

关于电子烟的法律

With flavors like peach lemonade and butterscotch, no wonder so many young people are attracted to vaping. (Photo: Lindsay Fox [CC BY 2.0]/Flickr)

Lung injuries from vaping are likely caused by toxic chemical fumes, say researchers at the Mayo Clinic, who studied lung biopsies from 17 patients who were believed to have vaping-related lung illness. The findings were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

梅奥诊所(Mayo Clinic)的研究人员表示，电子烟对肺部的伤害可能是由有毒的化学烟雾造成的。他们对17名据信患有电子烟相关肺部疾病的患者进行了肺部活检。研究结果发表在《新英格兰医学杂志》上。

In addition to continued research, the rash of illnesses and a rise in young people vaping has prompted several states and the federal government to call for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes. Officials hope that banning the flavors that are appealing to young people will cut back on the use of e-cigarettes.

除了继续进行研究外，电子烟引发的疾病和年轻人吸食电子烟的增加也促使几个州和联邦政府呼吁禁止加味电子烟。官员们希望禁止对年轻人有吸引力的口味将减少电子烟的使用。

The Trump administration announced in mid-September that it would ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes. The ban, which is expected to take several weeks to enact, would include mint and menthol, which are popular flavors for young people.

特朗普政府在9月中旬宣布，将禁止销售大多数口味的电子烟。这项禁令预计需要几周时间才能通过，其中包括薄荷和薄荷醇，这两种口味很受年轻人欢迎。

San Francisco became the first city to ban e-cigarette sales after city officials voted in June to ban stores from selling the items and online retailers from delivering to city addresses, according to CNN. Mayor London Breed signed the ordinance a few days later. San Francisco's ban is notable not only for the city's early action but also because it's home to leading e-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs.

据美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)报道，旧金山成为第一个禁止电子烟销售的城市，此前该市官员在6月份投票禁止商店销售电子烟，禁止在线零售商向城市地址投递电子烟。伦敦市长布里德几天后签署了这项法令。旧金山的禁令之所以引人注目，不仅因为该市采取了早期行动，还因为它是领先的电子烟制造商Juul实验室的所在地。

What is the FDA's role in this?

FDA在其中扮演什么角色?

The actions highlight what e-cigarette opponents and health advocates say is the FDA's failure to act on the issue, points out CNN. Officials from San Francisco, New York and Chicago criticized the FDA in a March letter for allowing e-cigarettes to remain for sale without undergoing a review on their impact on public health.

CNN指出，这些行动凸显了电子烟反对者和健康倡导者所说的FDA在这一问题上的失职。来自旧金山、纽约和芝加哥的官员在3月份的一封信中批评FDA允许电子烟继续销售，而没有对电子烟对公众健康的影响进行审查。

The FDA has stated its intent to issue a proposed rule that would extend the agency's authority to products that meet the statutory definition of "tobacco product," which would include e-cigarettes.

美国食品和药物管理局(FDA)表示，它打算发布一项拟议的规则，将该机构的权力扩大到符合“烟草产品”法定定义的产品，其中包括电子烟。

"Before this final rule, these products could be sold without any review of their ingredients, how they were made, and their potential dangers," Zeller explained in an earlier statement. "Under this new rule, we're taking steps to protect Americans from the dangers of tobacco products, ensure these tobacco products have health warnings, and restrict sales to minors."

泽勒在早些时候的一份声明中解释说:“在这项最终规定之前，这些产品可以在没有任何审查成分、生产方法和潜在危险的情况下销售。”“根据这项新规定，我们将采取措施保护美国人免受烟草产品的危害，确保这些烟草产品有健康警告，并限制对未成年人的销售。”