UC San Diego

In the last decade, e-cigarettes (e-cigs) have grown in popularity among the youth leading to increased cases of E-cigarette Vapor Associate Lung Injury, EVALI. At the time of this study, according to the CDC, there have been 68 deaths and 2,800 hospitalizations due to e-cig use. The e-cig market is constantly changing and relevant research on the effects of the devices are absent, therefore creating a niche for a study that analyzes the popular devices at a dosage similar to general population usage. We exposed mice to either mango or mint JUUL vapor for one hour three times a day for a month and three months. The exposed mice illustrated trends that demonstrated changes in the lung physiology hinting that prolonged use leads to increase in airway resistance and compliance. Our findings illustrate that at a dosage similar to human usage JUUL can negatively impact the lung physiology of mice. Future experiments would be to test the effects of e-cigs in an animal that is more closely related to humans, potentially rhesus macaque.