New York state health officials say a vitamin E chemical is the “key focus” in their investigation of vaping and severe lung illnesses.

Officials said Thursday they found extremely high levels of vitamin E acetate in nearly all the cannabis-containing vaping products that were analyzed.

At least one vaping product containing the chemical has been linked to each person who got sick and submitted a product for testing in the state.

Vitamin E acetate is commonly available as a nutritional supplement.

The health officials said it’s not known to cause harm when ingested as a vitamin supplement or applied to the skin, but they’re investigating its health effects when inhaled, because its oil-like properties could be associated with the symptoms seen in lung illnesses.

New York state has received nearly three dozen reports of severe pulmonary illness among patients, ages 15 to 46.

All of them used at least one cannabis-containing vaping product before they became ill, and all reported recent use of various vaping products.