California's 4th Vaping Death Comes As Tri-Valley Cracks Down

CALIFORNIA — California is reporting another vaping-associated death. A previously healthy Marin County woman in her 40s who started vaping six months ago has died, county officials said Wednesday.

"With sadness, we report that there has been a death in our community suspected to be caused by severe lung injury associated with vaping," Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said in a news release.

Marin County public health officials are working with the California Department of Public Health and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to obtain test samples to determine the specific products that may have contributed to the death.

It is the fourth vaping-associated death in California since July.

The CDC last week reported 39 deaths nationally and more than 2,000 suspected cases in the national epidemic of lung damage associated with e-cigarettes.

Marin County Public Health issued a warning in September recommending that residents cease e-cigarette use and vaping until the cause of the outbreak is known. Many Marin County cities and towns banned the sale of flavored tobacco beginning in January 2020.

This week in the Tri-Valley, the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products was banned in Contra Costa County unincorporated areas. On Tuesday, the city of San Ramon banned smoking of any kind, including vaping, in public places.

The specific products or compounds that cause lung injury after e-cigarette use are not known, but the CDC said Vitamin E acetate is a likely contributor in some cases. Oil-based vitamin E is sometimes added to vaping liquids, especially those containing the psychoactive cannabis compound THC, but many confirmed cases of lung injury have not been tied to THC, county officials said.

There are several thousand formulations of vaping liquids and many have not been tested for safety, according to Marin county health officials.

Symptoms of e-cigarette and vaping-associated lung injury, (EVALI) include shortness of breath, coughing or chest pain often accompanied by nausea, fever, vomiting or diarrhea. People with the symptoms who previously used e-cigarettes should seek prompt medical attention.

—Bay City News contributed to this report.