following several mysterious deaths linked to vaping.

聯邦政府在今天警告美國民眾切莫使用電子煙。

The Centers for Disease Control also said there are 450 cases of a lung illness in more

美國疾病管制中心指出超過 30 州的 450 起肺臟疾病

than 30 states tied to vaping.

與吸電子煙密切相關。

There are more questions now than answers.

現在的問題多過答案。

And William Brangham is back now with more on this mystery.

那麼交給 Willian Brangham 來深入探討這個謎團。

That's right, Judy.

好的，Judy。

Health officials say they're still searching for the definitive cause behind these growing

衛生部官員表示，他們仍然在調查這些肺臟疾病數字成長

number of lung illnesses.

背後的確實原因。

The Centers for Disease Control and others say they do believe some chemical exposure

美國疾病管制中心和其他機構皆表示他們相信接觸某些化學物質

is associated with the sickness.

是引發疾病的原因。

At least four deaths have been linked to vaping, and a fifth is under investigation.

至少四起死亡是和吸電子煙有關的，第五起案件仍在調查當中。

Allison Aubrey of National Public Radio is covering this, and she joins me now.

國家公共廣播電台的 Allison Aubrey 對於此事正進行報導，她現正加入我。

Hi there.

大家好。

Welcome.

歡迎。

Hi.

嗨。

Thank you.

謝謝。

So what is the latest that the investigators are saying?

所以調查員目前最新的進度為何？

Sure.

是的。

Well, today, they basically came out and said, we still do not know what is causing these

今天，他們出來表示，我們仍然不知道是什麼造成這些

illnesses.

疾病。

It's very frustrating for them, but they do know a lot more about who has gotten sick.

對於他們來說是非常挫折的，但是他們確實對是誰患病有更進一步的了解。

So, let me paint a picture here.

那麼讓我在這描述一下。

We are talking young men, average age 19, more than 80 percent of the cases in Illinois

我們在說的是年輕男子，平均年齡 19 歲，超過 80％ 的案例發生在伊利諾伊州

and Wisconsin men.

和威斯康辛州。

So these are people who are vaping THC and nicotine, sometimes combinations.

這些人吸食四氫大麻酚和尼古丁，有時候是兩種。

So, a marijuana vape pen and a nicotine vape pen?

所以是大麻電子煙筆和尼古丁電子煙筆一起？

Well, putting THC into the vape, right, so vaping THC or other cannabinoids,

是將四氫大麻酚放進吸食器，吸食四氫大麻酚或是其他種類的大麻

CBD, sometimes vaping nicotine and cannabis, so all kinds of mix and match.

大麻二酚，有時候是尼古丁和大麻，各種不同的搭配組合。

It's very, very difficult to hone in on one thing.

因此，要針對特定一樣是相當困難的。

And so far, they say they don't see one substance that is linked to all of the illnesses.

截至目前，他們表示並沒有發現哪一種物質和所有疾病都有關聯。

So, I'm curious, because New York state officials seemed to indicate

那麼，我很好奇，因為紐約州的官員似乎在暗示

that some Vitamin E substance might be implicated.

這牽涉到某些維他命 E 物質。

Right.

是的。

Federal investigators are not echoing that?

聯邦調查員並沒有附和這個說法？

Well, they're looking into that as well.

他們也正在調查。

They're looking at a whole range of compounds.

他們正在研究各種化合物。

In New York, they say it is a focus.

在紐約，這是個焦點議題。

They found a lot of concentrated Vitamin E in THC vaping cartridges.

他們在四氫大麻酚電子煙管裡發現大量的維他命 E。

And, basically, they're saying, these are not cartridges coming from medical dispensaries

基本上，他們說這些替換管都不是來自於紐約

in New York.

的醫療藥房。

These are black market products, stuff that people are buying off the street.

這些是黑市產品，人們在街上購買的東西。

Who knows what's in them, but very high concentrations of Vitamin E. And some people may think, whoa,

誰知道裡頭究竟是什麼，但是含有高濃縮的維他命 E。而有些人或許會認為

Vitamin E, it's a vitamin.

維他命 E ，這是維他命啊。

Well, it's fine to take as a dietary supplement or as a lotion.

作為膳食補充或是乳液來使用是沒有問題的。

Not fine to inhale.

但吸食則萬萬不可。

Ingested at high levels, when it makes it right into the lung, can cause damage.

攝取量過大，當它進入肺部時會對其造成損害。

So possibly five suspected deaths here, but lots of -- lots of -- hundreds

所以在這裡可能有 5 件可疑的死亡案例，但是有很多 -- 很多 -- 上百件

of illnesses.

的病例。

How do these illnesses present?

這些疾病是如何呈現？

And what do they look like?

它們的病狀是什麼？

Sure.

是的。

Typically, what they're seeing is that people feel a little bit sick, and then progressively

通常，他們發現那些人會感到噁心，然後逐漸出現

have shortness of breath, chest pain.

呼吸急促和胸痛。

By day six or seven, they have presented to an emergency room.

到第 6 或第 7 天時，他們已經被送到急診室。

And from there, it can get worse.

在那之後，情況會變得更嚴重。

Oftentimes, they're being intubated, or they need help breathing.

通常是他們要被插管治療，或是需要呼吸輔助。

Some have ended up in the ICU.

有些人最後進入加護病房。

And they don't know what kind of long-term damage might be done to the lungs.

而他們並不知道會對肺臟造成哪一種長期的損害。

They just don't know.

他們就是不知道。

You touched on this before, that there are commercial vaping products,

妳之前曾提到，市面上有很多商業電子煙產品

like Juul and Blu, that are e-cigarettes you can buy.

像是在 Juul 和 Blu 你就可以買得到。

Right.

是的。

And then in states where marijuana is legal, you can buy THC vaping

而且在大麻合法的州，你可以購買四氫大麻酚

pens.

筆。

Sure.

沒錯。

But then, as you're saying, there's also this big black market of these

不過，正如妳所說，還有一個大黑市利用

sort of home brew kits.

居家生產的設備販賣。

Do regulators know whether it's the black market products or the commercial products?

監管者是否知道這是黑市產品或是商業產品？

Or they don't know?

還是他們並不知道？

They really don't know.

他們真的不知道

They really -- they're looking at a range of things here.

他們真的 -- 他們正在調查各種細節。

The people who've spoken up -- and keep in mind, these are 19-year-old young men that

那些公開發表意見的人 -- 請記住，這些被訪問的都是 19 歲的年輕人

they're asking, hey, you have just gotten really, really sick.

嘿，你們真的病的很重。

What were you putting in your vape cartridge?

你們在電子煙管裡究竟加了什麼？

It's hard to get all of the answers.

要得到所有的答案是很困難的。

In about 120 instances, these people who've been sick have actually handed over what's

在大約 120 個例子當中，這些生病的人實際上已經交出

left of the vaping cartridge.

存在電子煙管的剩餘物，

And that's how investigators are analyzing this.

這就是調查人員進行分析的方式。

And they're finding that people have used 12 or 13 different kinds of THC products,

他們發現那些人使用 12 或 13 不同種類的四氫大麻酚產品，

12 or 13 different kinds of nicotine products.

12 或 13 不同種類的尼古丁產品。

So it's really, really complex and difficult to figure out, is there one substance or combination

所以真的，真的很複雜也很不容易判定是否有一種物質或合成

of substances that's leading to all these illnesses?

物質是造成這些疾病的。

So the CDC says now, until we get to the bottom of this, just don't smoke

所以美國疾病管制中心現在表示在他們深入研究之前，切莫使用

e-cigarettes.

電子煙。

You know what?

你知道嗎？

They are recommending that people stay away from e-cigarettes.

他們建議人們遠離電子煙。

They're saying, if you have been using them to stay off cigarettes, turn to something

他們說，如果你為了戒煙而使用它們，請選擇其他

else.

的代替品。

Until they know what's going on, until this investigation points to a substance or a product,

直到他們知道真正的原因，直到這項調查指向一種物質或一樣產品

they're recommending that people not vape.

他們勸告大眾不要吸電子煙。

Allison Aubrey of NPR, thank you so much.

國家公共電台的 Allison Aubrey，非常謝謝妳。

Thank you.

謝謝。