NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal joined Yale researchers on Monday to highlight the hazardous chemicals in e-cigarettes that are causing respiratory problems.

In a push to end e-cigarette use in Connecticut, Sen. Blumenthal is also calling for a ban on all flavored e-cigarette products.

Dr. Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, who heads the Yale Tobacco Center of Regulatory Sciences, explained at the joint conference: “Many of these chemicals are known to be inflammatory agents, are known to have toxic effects, but we still have to determine things like ‘what concentration and dose do these inflammatory effects appear?’, ‘What is toxic?'”

Researchers at Yale are using a custom-built vaping machine to analyze the chemicals inside of flavored e-cigs. JUUL is one of the leading brands and researchers say its vaping pods composed of dangerous chemicals.

Just last week, the state health commissioner issued a warning to all residents urging them to stop vaping until investigations are complete.

This, after cases of severe lung disease caused by vaping rose to eleven across Connecticut. The department doesn’t know which brand is causing the issue.

Majority of the cases are in Fairfield County, while others are in the New Haven and New London counties. Patients range from 15 to 50-years-old.

Senator Blumenthal adamant, “If the FDA fails to head this evidence, the FDA’s leadership should go.”

But local shop owners said the public is being misinformed about vaping.

Alex Keenan, of Songbirds Vape & Smoke in West Hartford, said he wants to see more medical research done on vaping.

It’s been around now for about a decade even doctors agree, while it’s known exactly how bad nicotine is for developing a teenage brain, how does it affect vaping adults?

“Most people that are getting sick are under the age of 18,” Keenan said. “They shouldn’t be smoking anything anyway, nicotine products regardless. I also think it has to do with the black market THC cartridges that are out there; they are everywhere.”

Those items can be bought on the internet at cheaper rates, and it can be hard to know what’s in them.

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