Researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health say they have tested flavored electronic cigarettes and the liquids used to refill them and found more than 75 percent of them contain a chemical linked to severe respiratory disease.

The study, cited on Harvard.edu, found the chemical diacetyl and two other related potentially harmful compounds, in varieties of the flavorings that include cotton candy, “Fruit Squirts,” and cupcake, which would certainly appeal to younger audiences.

An association was previously found between diacetyl and a respiratory disease, bronchiolitis obliterans, known as “popcorn lung,” because it was first noted in workers in microwave popcorn factories that had inhaled the artificial butter flavoring containing the chemical.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had previously issued a warning to workers and the flavoring industry concerning the chemical.

Joseph Allen, lead author on the study, said the hazards associated with the inhalation of flavored chemicals was recognized over ten years ago, but diacetyl and other related flavoring chemicals are still being used in many flavors, including fruit and alcohol flavors, and as they found in their study, e-cigarette flavoring.

According to the article, there are over 7,000 varieties of flavored e-cigarettes and refills currently available, adding that the popularity of the devices is continuing to rise, even though there is a lack of information about their potential health effects.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a rule to include e-cigarettes in their regulatory authority involving certain tobacco and nicotine containing products, but e-cigs, as they are commonly called, are not currently regulated.

The research team tested for the presence of diacetyl,  and acetoin, and 2,3-pentanedione, two related flavoring compounds listed as “high priority” by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association, meaning they may pose a respiratory hazard in the workplace environment.

At least one of the three was detected in 47 of the 51 types of flavored e-cigarettes and flavors tested, with diacetyl being detected in 39 flavors and the other two in 46 of the flavors.

David Christiani, Elkan Blout Professor of Environmental Genetics and study co-author said most of the health concerns with e-cigarettes had been focused on nicotine, but there are many other things we don’t yet know about them.

He added that in addition to nicotine, the e-cigarettes contained other cancer-causing chemicals and could cause severe lung damage.

The study was published online in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Researchers have uncovered a link between children with asthma, hay fever, or eczema and an increased risk of heart disease at a young age, compared to kids who do not suffer from childhood allergies, according to a story on livescience.com.

Dr. Jonathan Silverberg, an associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and lead author on the study, said the findings reveal harmful effects on children’s health could be caused by childhood allergies, and the recognition of this could lead to earlier treatment and help prevent heart disease.

However, the research team says although they found an association between allergic conditions and an increased risk of cardiovascular issues, it is unclear if treating the allergies would result in lowering the later risk of heart disease.

Drawing on data collected by the 2012 National Health Interview Study (NHIS), which questioned parents about the health of their children, the researchers analyzed the information from some 13,000 children living in the United States.

The analysis revealed that an estimated 14 percent of American children have asthma, with 17 percent suffering from hay fever, and another 12 percent have eczema.

The exact reason why kids with allergies are at a greater risk of developing heart disease is not quite clear, according to the research team.  They suggested some possible factors could be damage to the health system in a child from the inflammatory effects of allergies, or lack of physical activity experienced by allergy sufferers at young ages, leading to a possible higher rate of obesity as they become adults.

The researchers say the study was quite large and was obtained from parents across the US, making it a representative nationwide sample, but was limited by the fact that it relied solely on the parents’ response to the questions, and did not include any information concerning the lifestyle and diets of the children.

Silverberg added children could benefit from increased cholesterol and blood pressure screenings, and modification of their lifestyle habits, along with better treatments of childhood allergies, might reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease in later years.

The findings were published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of adult cigarette smokers has reached and all-time low in the United States.

The agency said in a report on Friday, and cited by UPI,  the percentage of smokers fell to 16.8 percent in the year 2014, dropping from 20.9 percent in 2005.  Adults between the ages of 18 and 24 recorded the most significant drop, but the numbers may have been influenced by that group having an increase in the use of alternative smoking methods.

It is suspected that e-cigarettes and hookahs are drawing interest to those in the 18-24 demographic, and that their use is lowering the number of cigarette smokers reporting

CDC Director Tom Frieden said that smoking kills a half-million Americans each year and costs more than $300 billion in a statement, released Thursday.  He added that the new report indicated real progress in helping smokers to kick the habit and that much more progress was possible.

This report released by the agency is a part of the Healthy People 2020 objective, a program designed to lower nationwide cigarette consumption to 12 percent or less by that year.

Interestingly, the rates of smokers among  those who only have Medicaid as their primary insurance were higher at 29.1 percent, and those individuals with no insurance at all recorded a 27.9 percent rate of smokers.

Smokers with Medicare or a private insurance plan reported a far lower number at 12.9 percent for private insurance and 12.5 for those on Medicare.  The fact that many private insurance plans offer incentives to non-tobacco users may be an influence on these results.

The report came out just a few days after the a large-scale smoking ban in public housing was announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

HUD Secretary Julian Castro said the agency had a responsibility to protect its residents from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, and the new ban would save $153 million per year in healthcare costs and improve the general health of more than 760,000 children in the US.

The CDC says it thinks the drop in smokers could be a direct result of new laws and programs designed to assist smokers in quitting.