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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

E-Cigarettes Produce Toxic Chemicals, Study Says

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Monday, March 19, 2018   

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – An increasing number of teens in Wyoming and across the United States are drawn to electronic cigarettes, with such flavors as watermelon and cotton candy. But new research says vaping produces toxic chemicals, even when there's no nicotine in the product.

Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco tested the urine of more than 80 adolescent smokers, and 20 non-smokers. Mark Rubenstein, a UCSF pediatrics professor and the study's lead author, thinks teens need to be warned that the vapor produced by e-cigarettes is not harmless.

"We are finding some of the same chemicals that we see in regular cigarettes in teenagers who are using e-cigarettes," Rubenstein said. "The levels are much lower than in regular cigarettes, but teens should not be exposing themselves to any levels."

He explained that the oils in e-cigarettes, such as propylene glycol and glycerin - although approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration - release harmful toxins when exposed to the high temperatures needed to create vapor smoke.

Dr. Norman Edelman, senior science consultant for the American Lung Association, said Rubenstein's study should sound an alarm about possibly regulating e-cigarettes, which can be a gateway to traditional smoking.

While some localities have laws on the books that limit access, Edelman believes the FDA should extend rules that restrict the use of tobacco to vape products as well.

"And the American Lung Association is rather concerned that the Food and Drug Administration, over a year ago, announced their intention to promulgate such rules, but have not yet done so," added Edelman.

Rubenstein offered one caveat on e-cigarettes, which also are marketed to adults trying to quit smoking.

"We're not saying that adults who are heavy cigarette smokers shouldn't consider these products as a form of harm reduction," he said. "We're just saying that kids should not be exposed to these products."

Wyoming law prohibits selling tobacco products to people under age 18, and the purchase or possession of electronic cigarettes by anyone 18 years or younger is also prohibited.



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