Woman’s e-cigarette habit leads to her ‘cobalt lung’ diagnosis – an incurable disease found only in metal workers

As the total number of e-cigarette and vaping-related injuries (EVALI) reaches 2,291 across all 50 states, researchers in California are unveiling a new potential danger of vaping: cobalt lung.

The news comes from a case study published in the European Respiratory Journal this week which focuses on a 49-year-old woman in California who developed the rare disease after vaping for just six months. The woman, a dog trainer by trade, sought out medical help when she began experiencing symptoms like shortness of breath and coughing — which aligned with the pneumonia-like cases of EVALI.

Although doctors initially thought she may have had vaping illness, the woman’s lungs showed something else, the distinct scarring of lung tissue that is typically only seen in those who work with hard metals. The condition — technically known “hard-metal pneumoconiosis” — is a “rare but serious disease of the lungs associated with inhalational exposure to tungsten or cobalt dust,” according to the NIH.

After observing her lung tissue, the researchers from the University of California, San Francisco performed tests on her vaping product, which contained the hard metal cobalt, among others. In a statement released to reporters, the researchers expressed shock at the development. [Read [email protected] Yahoo.com]