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Does Vaping Cause Popcorn Lung?
Health Guides
Popcorn lung is one of the most frequently cited health scares around vaping. It has appeared in headlines repeatedly since around 2015. Here is what the condition actually is, where the claim came from and what the current evidence genuinely shows.
No UK
Cases
No Confirmed Vaping-Related Popcorn Lung Cases in the UK
Diacetyl
The Implicated Compound — Banned From UK E-Liquids Since 2016
Overblown
Claim Based on Misrepresented Evidence and Outdated Product Context
The short answer
Does Vaping Cause Popcorn Lung?
Current evidence
Not in the UK — the compound responsible is banned in regulated UK e-liquids
Popcorn lung is a serious but rare condition caused by exposure to a compound called diacetyl, most famously associated with artificial butter flavouring in microwave popcorn factories. The concern about vaping and popcorn lung arose in the mid-2010s when diacetyl was found in some e-liquid flavourings in the US. In the UK, diacetyl and its close relative acetyl propionyl have been banned as e-liquid ingredients under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) since 2016. There are no confirmed cases of vaping-related popcorn lung in the UK from regulated products. The claim requires careful contextualisation to assess accurately.
This is not medical advice. If you have respiratory symptoms you are concerned about, please see your GP. This article addresses the specific scientific and regulatory context of the popcorn lung claim.
What popcorn lung actually is
Bronchiolitis Obliterans — the Condition Behind the Claim
Popcorn lung is the informal name for bronchiolitis obliterans — a serious condition in which the small airways of the lungs (bronchioles) become inflamed and then scarred, causing permanent narrowing. The scarring is irreversible and produces a progressive obstructive lung disease with symptoms including coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath that worsens over time. It is not the same as the acute lung injury condition (EVALI) that caused deaths in the US in 2019, which was linked to vitamin E acetate in illegal THC vaping cartridges.
The condition was first identified at scale in workers at a microwave popcorn factory in Missouri who had prolonged occupational exposure to diacetyl vapour at concentrations far exceeding anything found in consumer vaping products. The name popcorn lung stuck from this industrial origin.
"The popcorn lung claim is one of the most persistent vaping myths we encounter. The honest answer requires knowing what the condition is, what caused it and what the regulatory context in the UK actually is."
Touch of Vape team, CoventryThe diacetyl-vaping connection
Where the Vaping Claim Came From and Why It Needs Context
The 2015 Harvard Study
The primary source of the vaping-popcorn lung claim was a 2015 study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that found diacetyl in 39 out of 51 flavoured e-cigarette products tested — the majority of which were US products. The study was legitimate research. However the media coverage that followed largely failed to note that the concentrations found in e-liquid vapour were dramatically lower than the occupational concentrations at which popcorn lung was observed in factory workers, and that no cases of vaping-related bronchiolitis obliterans had been confirmed in humans at the time.
UK Regulations Changed the Picture in 2016
The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations came into force in the UK in 2016, implementing the EU Tobacco Products Directive. These regulations explicitly prohibited the use of diacetyl and acetyl propionyl (diketones associated with popcorn lung) in UK e-liquids. Any regulated UK e-liquid sold after this date cannot legally contain these compounds. Buying from a regulated UK retailer provides a meaningful level of protection that purchasing unregulated products does not.
The US Context Is Different
Some of the ongoing concern about popcorn lung and vaping comes from US commentary where regulatory requirements differ from the UK. The US does not have equivalent prohibitions on diacetyl in e-liquids at the federal level and the regulatory landscape for vaping products has been more fragmented. UK vapers reading US-sourced health commentary should be aware that the regulatory context may not apply to regulated UK products.
Concentration Is the Critical Variable
Toxicology operates on the principle that the dose makes the poison. The popcorn factory workers who developed bronchiolitis obliterans had daily prolonged exposure at industrial concentrations through an eight-hour working day. Even if diacetyl were present in e-liquid vapour — which in regulated UK products it should not be — the exposure concentrations would be orders of magnitude lower than the occupational exposure that caused the original cases. Applying factory worker risk data directly to consumer vapour exposure without accounting for concentration is a fundamental scientific error that much media coverage made.
What UK vapers should know
The Practical Picture for UK Vapers
01
Buy from regulated UK retailers
Regulated UK e-liquids cannot legally contain diacetyl or acetyl propionyl. Purchasing from a reputable UK retailer that stocks products compliant with TRPR provides meaningful protection against the compound specifically implicated in popcorn lung. Unregulated products — particularly those from non-UK sources or the grey market — do not carry this assurance.
02
No confirmed UK cases from regulated products
There are no confirmed cases of popcorn lung caused by regulated UK vaping products. This does not mean vaping carries zero lung risk — it means the specific risk associated with the popcorn lung claim is not the primary lung health concern for UK vapers using regulated products.
03
EVALI is a separate and different concern
The acute lung injury deaths in the US in 2019 that were widely labelled in media as vaping-related lung disease were caused by vitamin E acetate used as a cutting agent in illegal THC vaping cartridges — not in nicotine e-liquids. These deaths should not be attributed to conventional nicotine vaping. They represent a separate public health issue with a different cause, product type and regulatory context.
04
Broader lung health questions remain
While the popcorn lung claim is not well-supported for UK regulated products, this does not mean vaping has no lung health implications. Chronic vapour inhalation produces airway inflammation and some degree of respiratory stress. The long-term effects are not fully established. The popcorn lung claim should neither be used to dismiss all vaping lung health concerns nor to exaggerate them beyond what the evidence supports.
Touch of Vape Coventry
Buy Regulated UK Vaping Products at Our Coventry Store
Everything we stock complies with UK TRPR regulations. You can be confident in the safety standards of the products we sell.
To find our Coventry store and browse our regulated product range, visit our Vape Shop Coventry page.
From our Health guide
More From Our Health Guides
This article is part of our Health guide, where we address the most widely cited health claims about vaping with reference to actual evidence and the UK regulatory context.
Part of our Health guide
Health Guides
Our Health guide covers the health questions — including the well-known claims and the ones that deserve more scrutiny — that our Coventry customers ask us most often.
Find more evidence-based health guides in our Health guide, including detailed articles on vaping and cancer, lung health and the EVALI outbreak.
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