Vaping industry leaders are planning to sue Massachusetts over its public health emergency declaration, banning the sales of vape products for four months.

“There will be a filing for injunctive relief, possibly going in front of the court today or tomorrow,” said John Nathan, the Massachusetts liaison for the Vapor Technology Association.

The lobbying association filed a lawsuit Wednesday against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and several state agencies over their ban of flavored e-cigarette products, arguing the state overstepped its bounds.

The association plans to challenge the outright ban on all vaping products, including e-cigarettes with little to no levels of nicotine and THC vapes for medical marijuana patients.

“This order does not impact JUUL and Big Tobacco, but it closes over 300 small businesses,” said Nathan, co-owner of 80V eLiquid, which manufactures vape products.

He said the vape shops that sell his products are much better at keeping the products out of the hands of children than JUUL and sellers on the black market have been.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s declaration takes effect as the nation is grappling with a series of fatal lung illnesses that doctors tied to vaping. As of Wednesday, 11 people have died from a lung disease that resembles a rare form of pneumonia.

Vape consumers and industry leaders say the culprit is vitamin E acetate, an oil that has been used to thicken THC cartridges on the market. The New York State Department of Health stated earlier this month that lab results showed high levels of vitamin E acetate in nearly all the samples with cannabis that were analyzed in its investigation, though patients with vaping illnesses reported using various vape products.

Store owners in Massachusetts also are filing for injunctive relief from the ban.

But the U.S. Federal Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control say they have not identified a single substance or product as the source of the severe vaping illnesses. They say most patients reported using THC vapes, but that others also vaped nicotine and some only vaped nicotine.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health received at least 61 reports of patients with vaping illnesses, but so far three cases were confirmed. The department is not tracking whether those patients obtained those vape products legally or from the black market, a spokesperson said.

Public health advocates applauded the temporary ban as a much-needed hiatus that could help keep nicotine products out of the hands of youth. The ban’s harshest critics, however, say the ban will likely drive more people to the black market and prompt nicotine vape users to return to traditional cigarettes, which also contains tobacco and harmful chemicals.

The declaration also issued a standing order to Massachusetts pharmacies to make nicotine gum, patches and lozenges coverable by insurance even if a customer doesn’t have a prescription.

But Nathan argues the standing order brings little comfort as long as Marlboros and Newports remain on the shelves and vapes are unavailable for the next four months.

“Why are we not banning cigarettes?," he asked. “That is the real question.”

MassLive reporter Tanner Stening contributed to this report.