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RULE -MAKING ORDER  
EMERGENCY RULE ONLY  
 
 CODE REVISER USE ONLY  
 
 CR-103E (December 2017)  
(Implements RCW 34.05.350  
and 34.05.360 ) 
 
Agency:  State Board of Health  
Effective date of rule:  
Emergency Rules  
     Immediately upon filing.  
     Later (specify)  
Any other findings required by other provisions of law as precondition to adoption or effectiveness of rule?  
 Yes      No     If Yes, explain :  
Purpose:   Chapter 246 -80 WAC - Vapor products and flavors. The Washington State Board of Health has adopted an 
emergency rule to create WAC 246 -80-021 that bans the sale of vapor products containing vitamin E acetate.  This applies to 
the sale, offer for sale, or possession with intent to sell or offer for sale vapor products containing vitamin E acetate at any 
location or by any means including by telephone or other m ethod of voice transmission, the mail or any other delivery service, 
or the internet or other online service.    
Citation of rules affected by this order:  
New:      WAC 246 -80-021 
Repealed:  None  
Amended:  None  
Suspended:  None  
Statutory authority for adoption: RCW 43.20.050(2)(f)  
Other authority:  
EMERGENCY RULE  
     Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds:  
          That immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, 
safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice an d opportunity to comment upon 
adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.  
          That state or federal law or federal rule or a federal deadline for state receipt of federal funds requires immediate 
adoption of a rule.  
Reasons for this finding :  The outbreak of lung disease continues to grow; therefore, the adoption of a rule prohibiting the 
sale of vapor products containing vitamin E acetate is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, and gener al 
welfare.  
 
In July 2019, the U.S. Centers for Diseas e Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state 
and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners began investigating outbreaks of lung injury 
associated with e -cigarette product use, or vaping. In S eptember 2019, the CDC activated its Emergency Operations Center 
to aid in the investigation of the multi -state outbreak. As of November 13, 2019 there have been 2,172 confirmed cases 
reported across 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the  US Virgin Islands, including 42 deaths confirmed in 
24 states. Fourteen cases of lung injury have been reported in Washington State.  
 
As part of the investigation into the multistate outbreak of lung disease associated with the use of vapor products, the CDC 
conducted laboratory tests of 29 samples of fluid collected from the lungs of patients with vaping -associated lung disease 
from 10 states. An article released on November 8, 2019 showed that all of the samples contained vitamin E acetate, 
providing dir ect evidence of vitamin E acetate at the primary site of injury in the lungs. Vitamin E acetate is a chemical that is 
used as an additive or thickening ingredient in vapor products. The CDC has not determined that vitamin E acetate is present 
in only THC v apor products or only non -THC vapor products. THC was identified in 82 percent of the samples, and nicotine 
was identified in 62 percent of the samples. None of a range of other potential chemicals of concern was detected in the 
samples, but evidence is no t yet sufficient to rule out the contribution of other chemicals, substances, or product sources to 
the disease. The CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of concern and stated that, until the relationship of 
vitamin E acetate and lung health is better characterized, it is important that vitamin E acetate not be added to vapor 
products.  
Page 2 of 3  
  Page 3 of 3 Note:   If any category is left blank, it will be calculated as zero.  
No descriptive text.  
 
Count by whole WAC sections only, from the WAC number through the history note.  
A section may be counted in more than one category.  
The number of sections adopted in order to comply with:  
Federal statute:   New 0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
Federal rules or standards:   New 0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
Recently enacted state statutes:   New 0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
  
The number of sections adopted at the request of a nongovernmental entity:  
New   0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
  
The number of sections adopted o n the agency’s own initiative:  
New   1 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
  
The number of sections adopted in order to clarify, streamline, or reform agency procedures:  
New   0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
  
The number of sections adopted using:  
Negotiated rule making:   New 0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
Pilot rule making:   New 0 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
Other alternative rule making:   New 1 Amended  0 Repealed  0  
  
Date Adopted: 11/18/2019  Signature:  
 
Name: Michelle A. Davis  
Title: Executive Director, Washington State Board of Health  
 
NEW SECTION
WAC 246-80-021   Prohibition —Vitamin E acetate.   (1) Vitamin E 
acetate is a chemical that is used as an additive or thickening ingre-
dient in vapor products. As part of the investigation into the multi-
state outbreak of lung disease associated with the use of vapor prod-
ucts, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)  conducted laboratory tests 
of twenty-nine samples of fluid collected from the lungs of patients 
with vaping-associated lung disease from ten states. All of the sam-
ples contained vitamin E acetate, providing direct evidence of vitamin 
E acetate at the primary site of injury in the lungs. The CDC has not 
determined that vitamin E acetate is present in only THC vapor prod-
ucts or only non-THC vapor products. THC was identified in 82 percent 
of the samples, and nicotine was identified in 62 percent of the sam-
ples. None of a range of other potential chemicals of concern was de-
tected in the samples, but evidence is not yet sufficient to rule out 
the contribution of other chemicals, substances, or product sources to 
the disease. The CDC has identified vitamin E acetate as a chemical of 
concern and stated that, until the relationship of vitamin E acetate 
and lung health is better characterized, it is important that vitamin 
E acetate not be added to vapor products. Because the outbreak of lung 
disease continues to grow, adoption of a rule prohibiting the sale of 
vapor products containing vitamin E acetate is necessary for the pres-
ervation of the public health, safety, and general welfare.
(2) No person including, but not limited to, a person licensed 
under chapter 69.50 or 70.345 RCW, may sell, offer for sale, or pos-
sess with intent to sell, or offer for sale vapor products containing 
vitamin E acetate. The foregoing prohibition applies to the sale, of-
fer for sale, or possession with intent to sell or offer for sale va-
por products containing vitamin E acetate at any location or by any 
means in this state including, but not limited to, by means of a tele-
phonic or other method of voice transmission, the mail or any other 
delivery service, or the internet or other online service.
[ 1 ] OTS-1895.1