Propylene glycol May Prevent Influenza
Propylene glycol, the primary ingredient in the electronic cigarette cartridge, may be a powerful deterrent against pneumonia, influenza, and other respiratory diseases when vaporized and inhaled according to a study by Dr. Oswald Hope Robertson.
Decades before the e cigarette was invented, a study was conducted by Dr. Robertson of the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital in 1942 on inhalation of vaporized propylene glycol in laboratory mice. A more in-depth article was printed in the Nov.16th 1942 issue of TIME Magazine http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,932876,00.html.
Dr. Robertson placed groups of mice in a chamber and sprayed its air first with propylene glycol, then with influenza virus. All the mice lived. Then he sprayed the chamber with virus alone. All the mice died.”
The researchers also found that “the propylene glycol itself was a potent germicide. One part of glycol in 2,000,000 parts of air would–within a few seconds–kill concentrations of air-suspended pneumococci, streptococci and other bacteria numbering millions to the cubic foot.”