New study points to more bad news for vaping

Also, efforts to increase the number of therapists

• Brett Sholtis
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Brett Sholtis was a health reporter for WITF/Transforming Health until early 2023. Sholtis is the 2021-2022 Reveal Benjamin von Sternenfels Rosenthal Grantee for Mental Health Investigative Journalism with the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism. His award-winning work on problem areas in mental health policy and policing helped to get a woman moved from a county jail to a psychiatric facility. Sholtis is a University of Pittsburgh graduate and a Pennsylvania Army National Guard Kosovo campaign veteran.

 Brett Sholtis / Transforming Health

Chemical engineering senior Jewel Cook tests a vaping device at Bucknell University.

Bucknell University researchers have spent the past three years testing two common vaping products. Their research has found that electronic cigarettes release potentially harmful levels of carbon monoxide – the same common, toxic gas that is found in a car’s tailpipe emissions, and which is also found in cigarette smoke.

Their findings are in sharp contrast to the vaping industry’s claims that electronic cigarettes are less dangerous than smoking.

This study happens to be published at a time that a lung ailment tied to vaping  has claimed more than 34 lives across the country. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still warning people to stop vaping – drawing attention to the fact that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the risks of vaping.

Appearing on Smart Talk Monday to offer study details are Bucknell University Professors Dabrina Dutcher,Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry and chemical engineering and Karen Castle, Ph.D, Russell-Childers professor of chemistry.

Also, Applied Behavior Analysis is a type of therapy that can help children with autism and people dealing with things like addiction and PTSD.

But there aren’t enough applied behavior analysts in Pennsylvania to do the work.

Joining Smart Talk to discuss efforts to change that are Dr. Cheryl Tierney-Aves, MD, board-certified behavior and developmental pediatrician with Penn State Health, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Dr. Jonathan Ivy, applied behavior analyst and assistant professor of psychology, Penn State Harrisburg.

Justin Kocis

Dabrina Dutcher, PhD., assistant professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at Bucknell University, and Karen Castle, PhD., associate dean of faculty in the natural sciences and mathematics department at Bucknell University, appear on Smart Talk, November 4, 2019.