HMN 2025: How Neutron scattering sheds light on lung injuries linked to vaping

Researchers from the University of Windsor are using neutrons at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to better understand symptoms associated with e-cigarette/vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI).

Lead researcher Drew Marquardt and his team used neutron scattering at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor to observe how a commonly used diluent used in many illegal vaping oils, known as vitamin E acetate (VEA), can harm or damage the lungs. The team found that a surplus of VEA collects in the lungs over time, eventually entering the organ’s membrane. This causes the membrane to soften, resulting in the labored breathing associated with EVALI.

The team’s findings are published in Chemical Research in Toxicology.

How neutron scattering aids research

“When physicians first started investigating the uptick of lung injuries in young people, they were finding a buildup of VEA,” said Marquardt. “That meant that the VEA likely had nowhere to go once it entered the lungs. We wanted to better understand what this means for breathing function and how the buildup affects the lungs over time. So, we brought our research to ORNL, where I would put Bio-SANS up against any other SANS instrument in the world in terms of capability.”

The instrument suites at SNS and HFIR allow users from all over the world to access multiple neutron scattering techniques, including small-angle neutron scattering and spectroscopy—both of which Marquardt’s team used for their findings.

Using HFIR’s Biological Small-Angle Neutron Scattering Instrument (Bio-SANS) and SNS’s Neutron Spin Echo Spectrometer (NSE), the team studied three different pulmonary surfactant models—a mixture of lipids and proteins that mimic the inner lining of the lungs. They used these instruments to highlight the effect of VEA on models of different complexity, signaling a significant milestone in better understanding how tiny changes can have a big impact on human health.

Advantages of neutron-based techniques

“The advantage of using neutrons is that they can provide contrast variation,” said Sai Venkatesh Pingali, a neutron scattering scientist and instrument scientist at Bio-SANS. “At Bio-SANS, we can selectively highlight different parts of the sample to give us more insight than we’d be privy to otherwise.”

Neutrons lack an electrical charge, meaning they can easily pass through a material and reveal information about its structure while preserving the sample. The non-destructive nature of neutrons allowed the team to avoid introducing additives to their experiment.

“That’s why neutrons are so well-suited to this research,” said Marquardt. “It allows us to study VEA without adding other components that we wouldn’t normally find in the lungs.”

“Spin Echo is unique in that it can measure how stiff or soft a membrane is, and there is no other technique that can access the energy scales required for such small samples,” said Piotr Zolnierczuk, neutron scattering scientist and instrument scientist at NSE. “There is really no other method available right now that can offer what NSE can.”

The team’s research is ongoing.

“Our early work put a mechanism to what VEA is doing inside the lungs of someone with EVALI, but there are many other mechanisms associated with breathing that we still don’t understand,” said Marquardt. “We hope to return to ORNL soon and continue taking full advantage of the lab’s world-class instruments.”

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