Activated Carbon and Vaping

Brewervapesalot

Well-Known Member
I was changing air and water filters today in the house. I have some activated carbon. Was thinking about adding a pinch on top of the screen above the heater in the tiny might. Wonder if filtering the air going into the herb would improve flavor? The air filters in my house are less than 1/4 " thick so it doesnt take much activated carbon.

Might soften Tiny Might's tendency to cook the herb closest to the heater more than the rest.

Any safety issues? I dont think so, but figured I ask. People regularly swallow activated carbon for poison treatment and heating it I dont think does anything that inhaling the vapor without carbon would do.
 
Brewervapesalot,
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Vaporific

All who wander are not lost...
Might soften Tiny Might's tendency to cook the herb closest to the heater more than the rest.
I would not use a filter and not sure about a carbon one (a few above said no way). My flower was too close to the heater when I first got my Tinymight and I’ve moved it further up stem over time. Not much but a gently tamped load is at least a quarter inch, maybe 3/8s, from the bottom of the stem and that seems to help a bit and not cook so much initially. If you have a long stem you can move it even further up - but I’ve yet to use mine and only have used the short stem which suits me fine. Hope you find your balance.:peace:
 

Brewervapesalot

Well-Known Member
Carbon dust in the lungs is No Bueno! I would re-think that one.

I tend to agree. But I also think any herb vaporizer puts particulate matter in your lungs.... the dirty stems and cooling unit show that.

Also activated carbon is far different than charcoal.... they are apples and spacesuits in difference.

I mean I am, and you are, breathing filtered air by activated carbon at many places, stores and hospitals to name a few. There is no dust in or on the activated carbon. Its granular. But I take the point.

I would not use a filter and not sure about a carbon one (a few above said no way). My flower was too close to the heater when I first got my Tinymight and I’ve moved it further up stem over time. Not much but a gently tamped load is at least a quarter inch, maybe 3/8s, from the bottom of the stem and that seems to help a bit and not cook so much initially. If you have a long stem you can move it even further up - but I’ve yet to use mine and only have used the short stem which suits me fine. Hope you find your balance.:peace:

I've moved it up too, sometimes above the housing.
 

RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
I tend to agree. But I also think any herb vaporizer puts particulate matter in your lungs.... the dirty stems and cooling unit show that.

Also activated carbon is far different than charcoal.... they are apples and spacesuits in difference.

I mean I am, and you are, breathing filtered air by activated carbon at many places, stores and hospitals to name a few. There is no dust in or on the activated carbon. Its granular. But I take the point.



I've moved it up too, sometimes above the housing.

“and you are, breathing filtered air by activated carbon at many places, stores and hospitalsto name a few”

And those carbon filters are NOT being HEATED to 350-450f either!

RESPECT your LUNGS, they have no self defense mechanism. Sure you are inhaling things from your vaporizer, hopefully just pesticide free plant vapor. Hence the reason to minimize, not add anything to the mix.
 
RustyOldNail,

Brewervapesalot

Well-Known Member
“and you are, breathing filtered air by activated carbon at many places, stores and hospitalsto name a few”

And those carbon filters are NOT being HEATED to 350-450f either!

RESPECT your LUNGS, they have no self defense mechanism. Sure you are inhaling things from your vaporizer, hopefully just pesticide free plant vapor. Hence the reason to minimize, not add anything to the mix.

That's actually my question. Does heating activating carbon to that degree do anything? I dont think so, but if you know specifics let me know...

Inhaling anything including weed at 450 F is bad for you.... I get that. Based on your logic, you should not vaporizer weed.... and should "respect your lungs "...

But activated carbon is basically inert and has tons of surface area to trap pollutants...

If you're just speculating-- that doesnt answer my question...
 

RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
That's actually my question. Does heating activating carbon to that degree do anything? I dont think so, but if you know specifics let me know...

Inhaling anything including weed at 450 F is bad for you.... I get that. Based on your logic, you should not vaporizer weed.... and should "respect your lungs "...

But activated carbon is basically inert and has tons of surface area to trap pollutants...

If you're just speculating-- that doesnt answer my question...

Only you can answer your question as you want to twist the logic I posted. Experiment all you want, unfortunately we won’t know the results for sometime.

Yes, breathing anything other then fresh air, is probably not the healthiest. So if one decides to vape, as opposed to combustion, they are making a choice in risk reduction. Adding more UNKNOWN ingredients therefore makes no sense, logically. Personally, I don’t really care what people put in their lungs, but I believe it’s important to respond to these types of posts, so as not to spread the FUD.
 
RustyOldNail,

Polarbearboy

Tokin' Away Since 1968
In my search for ways of mitigating the impact of my vaping on my sensitive lungs, among other solutions I've looked at using activated charcoal.

There are actually a number of activated charcoal filters and systems made specifically for use with cannabis. I have a MouthPeace from Moose Labs that I use with several of my vapes and water bubblers to ease my breathing apparatus. The MouthPeace uses its own activated charcoal filters. https://mooselabs.us/ Grav glass makes an attachment that uses loose granular material: https://www.420science.com/products/grav-labs-carbon-expansion-adaptor Black Leaf also makes a Carball carbon filter adapter and GrassCity sells granulated activated charcoal for it: https://www.grasscity.com/black-leaf-carbon-filter-adapter.html?nosto=nosto-page-category2 As well, there are several makers of activated charcoal filters for joints.

Some of the products are designed to go where the vapor or smoke leave the crucible and others are at the mouthpiece end. Not sure which is better. Also not sure that any of these will work with the TinyMight.
 
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RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
In my search for ways of mitigating the impact of my vaping on my sensitive lungs, among other solutions I've looked at using activated charcoal.

There are actually a number of activated charcoal filters and systems made specifically for use with cannabis. I have a MouthPeace from Moose Labs that I use with several of my vapes and water bubblers to ease my breathing apparatus. The MouthPeace uses its own activated charcoal filters. https://mooselabs.us/ Grav glass makes an attachment that uses loose granular material: https://www.420science.com/products/grav-labs-carbon-expansion-adaptor Black Leaf also makes a Carball carbon filter adapter and GrassCity sells granulated activated charcoal for it: https://www.grasscity.com/black-leaf-carbon-filter-adapter.html?nosto=nosto-page-category2 As well, there are several makers of activated charcoal filters for joints.

Some of the products are designed to go where the vapor or smoke leave the crucible and others are at the mouthpiece end. Not sure which is better. Also not sure that any of these will work with the TinyMight.

Yes, there are many appropriate uses of these types of filters. Using them in a HEATED air path, is something I personally would avoid. Less, is better, when it comes to defenseless lungs.
 
RustyOldNail,

hinglemccringleberry

Well-Known Member
If you must use a filter in your vape, use either organic cotton or degummed hemp fiber.

However I do have some of this laying around: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009GZJT2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Now OP has me tempted to risk my lungs so I can see if this upgrades the vapor quality in a dry herb vape. I wouldn't dare put it anywhere near the oven/chamber, but what about inside the mouthpiece of my Alfa, far away from the oven and not exposed to any heat?
 
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hinglemccringleberry,

invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer

RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
Carbon filters have been around for many years in the combustion world. McFinn's put out some data showing substantially reduced pesticide content when the carbon filter was used. One concern of vaporizing has been that it could potentially expose one to even more pesticides than smoking, due to much less thermal degradation involved in the process.

https://sipipes.com/mcfinns-triple-filtered-waterpipe-werc-shop-pesticide-report-werc-shop-report-2/

Geez... this from a website that SELLS the products that were tested.

“4. Conclusions and Remarks

This study clearly shows that McFinn’s Triple-Filtered Waterpipe inhalation device does filter out and reduce expose to a number of pesticides that may be found in the stream of medical cannabis smoke vapor. McFinn’s Triple-Filtered Waterpipe removed more pesticides in the smoke stream than a non-filtered waterpipe and a small hand-held glass pipe with similar levels of use.”

Some of you are too young to remember the days of folks using aquarium foam, as a filter, because, heh it’s okay for fishes.

Look, I’ll say it endlessly, vape whatever you want. Find all the studies you want that make you feel “safe” inhaling whatever. I don’t need to worry about the validity of a “study”, or test, if I don’t add anything to the basic weed ingredient. Sure, pesticides are still something to be avoided by careful shopping.
 
RustyOldNail,

invertedisdead

PHASE3
Manufacturer
Geez... this from a website that SELLS the products that were tested.

“4. Conclusions and Remarks

This study clearly shows that McFinn’s Triple-Filtered Waterpipe inhalation device does filter out and reduce expose to a number of pesticides that may be found in the stream of medical cannabis smoke vapor. McFinn’s Triple-Filtered Waterpipe removed more pesticides in the smoke stream than a non-filtered waterpipe and a small hand-held glass pipe with similar levels of use.”

Some of you are too young to remember the days of folks using aquarium foam, as a filter, because, heh it’s okay for fishes.

Look, I’ll say it endlessly, vape whatever you want. Find all the studies you want that make you feel “safe” inhaling whatever. I don’t need to worry about the validity of a “study”, or test, if I don’t add anything to the basic weed ingredient. Sure, pesticides are still something to be avoided by careful shopping.

That's one of the biggest cannabis testing facilities in the entire state of California. Don't tell me that you trust their test results when you're shopping for cannabis but not for anything else? :rolleyes:

Yes they sell the product they paid to have tested, so does Storz-Bickel...

Heating charcoal is GREAT if you are barbecuing......

You realize you're inhaling those carbonaceous particles and smoke residues when barbecuing, right?
 

Siebter

Less soul, more mind
Might soften Tiny Might's tendency to cook the herb closest to the heater more than the rest.

So since this is not about the filtering qualities of carbon (right?) but rather about more even heating (correct?) I would use a different approach. In my experience using an extra screen between the load and the heater results in a very even heating (according to the very even abv I get), I'm using the Mistvape cup screens and they work great.

Another approach could be moving the herb a bit farther away from the heater, which I haven't tried yet.

Since I'm using a more medium grind (BCG medium plate) while still following the general rule to never overpack I hardly see any darker spots.
 

RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
That's one of the biggest cannabis testing facilities in the entire state of California. Don't tell me that you trust their test results when you're shopping for cannabis but not for anything else? :rolleyes:

Yes they sell the product they paid to have tested, so does Storz-Bickel...



You realize you're inhaling those carbonaceous particles and smoke residues when barbecuing, right?

I trust no one, especially when it comes to inhalation.
Anything besides fresh air, is something to distrust. Keeping it simple, means less to distrust. Hopefully, since I don’t BBQ everyday, I’ll survive, but understand the added risk I’m taking.
Everyone will have to decide the risk/reward factor for themselves. Personally, I don’t see any potential reward for what I believe is yet another additive to your vapor. If you want to believe studies, then I guess it’s fine for you. Your brain might be depositing a check, your lungs can’t cash.
Vape safe!
 

Diggy Smalls

Notorious
Activated charcoal is very safe to have in the vapor path. I'm not entirely sure about it being in the bowl that is heated. They make activated charcoal pills for people to take... It is very absorbent and will absorb all sorts of stuff. Will it also absorb some of the stuff we want to keep? I don't know.

It was mentioned that a screen on top of the bowl will disperse some heat to make a more even roasting. It was also mentioned that cotton or hemp fiber can be used to filter out particulates. I would definitely try these methods and see how it helps you.
 

hinglemccringleberry

Well-Known Member
I trust no one, especially when it comes to inhalation.
Oh man, you're gonna have a real rough time in this world unless you live on the beach. There's an incredible amount of particulate matter in the valley I live in when the weather is dry. The ag industry, smog, wildfire smoke all contribute. For 8 months out of the year you're better off wearing a mask made out of an activated carbon AC filter than not wearing anything over your mouth at all.
And if you believe in chemtrails, well....nevermind.
 

RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
Oh man, you're gonna have a real rough time in this world unless you live on the beach. There's an incredible amount of particulate matter in the valley I live in when the weather is dry. The ag industry, smog, wildfire smoke all contribute. For 8 months out of the year you're better off wearing a mask made out of an activated carbon AC filter than not wearing anything over your mouth at all...
And if you believe in chemtrails, well....nevermind.

I live on a beach....
 
RustyOldNail,

MoltenTiger

Well-Known Member
I used activated charcoal a few times back when I was smoking. It was interesting, it really was well suited to filtering smoke and it didn't really have a huge impact on the potency either.
It kept the water absolutely crystal clear for many tokes. I would recommend using water after carbon filtering for absolute peace of mind..

I had it placed in an adapter (Carball mentioned above at one point) and with a cone piece/bowl above, attached to a beaker downstem.
oldiebutagoodie.png


That's actually the first adapter I got, branded RooR. I remember now the instructions that came with it, which make sense as to the concerns above.. basically you needed to wash the activated carbon before using it. Larger granule styles might be better suited. What I was using was granulated, roughly 1-2mm^3 chunks. With proper preparation, the filter does not allow for any visible dust to be drawn out of it. The pieces of carbon are solid crystalline, and after washing the dust away, it will only form more if it is ground or manipulated.
This was the more annoying aspect of using the granules, because it was difficult to store long term without it breaking up and forming plenty of dust. Still, I would get a packet and process a bunch and place it in a jar for refills.

Now as to the heat, well this is what google has to say about the production necessary for making it..

"Activation/Oxidation: Raw material or carbonized material is exposed to oxidizing atmospheres (oxygen or steam) at temperatures above 250 °C, usually in the temperature range of 600–1200 °C"

So, the stuff is really not sensitive to heat at the levels reached with smoking, let alone vaporising.

I would pull hot embers directly on top of it and generally it wasn't an issue (the only issue being that eventually it would clog and it would restrict airflow after a few uses). The adapter itself would get hot to touch. And the oils from the plant and the tar from the smoke would stick all the carbon together like a cake after some use, causing it to require a good bit of scraping to remove (it retains its granularity throughout, it really isn't that risky a material in the slightest, one of the friendliest and most abundant).

I see nothing wrong with it, it's awesome stuff. 1g has the surface area of a football field.

I did look into particulate inhalation before deciding on using it all those years ago, and all I can say is that the amount of bong hits I would need to get black lung, I would die of old age trying. Miners get black lung, it really takes exposure on the levels of swimming in a visible cloud of carbon for it to be troublesome.


I would think if you placed it between the heater and the herb it would impact the convection efficiency and might not allow the vape to work properly.
I like the idea of filtering the air path before the heater, however if the first thing you do after a toke is breath in the air around you unfiltered, it's probably not worth the hassle.
Placing it in the downstem of a bong makes the most sense given that it's already a solid step from direct inhalation.

I think it makes a lot of sense in terms of vaping, I vape now and have been solely for over 5 years, partly as risk reduction, partly as a lifestyle choice, and mostly because my lungs were showing signs that made me feel like quitting or eradicating the tar input hence the carbon filtration and today's reality.

I don't think it makes sense to vape using one of the many available noxious and poorly designed products out there. But it definitely makes sense to see no reason that simply vaping with a unit that isn't awful is the limit of how you can better cope with getting high. Carbon filtering is going to be a step too far for most people, it's going to absorb a lot of flavour, be an unnecessary hassle and change the experience by a fair amount. But if you like it, more power to you, you will certainly be inhaling less bullshit, there's always a trace amount and you would simply get a smaller slice of that pie with filtering. It would be a measurable difference.
 

virtualpurple

Well-Known Member
An enclosed carbon filter - sure, giver it a whirl.

adding a pinch of loose powder - I definitely wouldn’t. That sounds like a recipe for aspiration pneumonia.
 

RustyOldNail

SEARCH for the treasure...
An enclosed carbon filter - sure, giver it a whirl.

adding a pinch of loose powder - I definitely wouldn’t. That sounds like a recipe for aspiration pneumonia.

But folks will remind you “They make activated charcoal pills for people to take”.

While my stomach says; “go ahead, if you’re lucky, I’ll throw up”....

My lungs say; nothing....

and that’s the freaken point!

Trust your LOGIC. Been doing this over 12 years, these subjects came up then as well, and round and round we go.
 
RustyOldNail,

Diggy Smalls

Notorious
Wait.... Your lungs don't tell you when they are hurting or not doing well? I think the whole body tries to communicate in its own way. Anyway, yes it would be wise to use water to filter out dust when using charcoal as a filter.
 
Diggy Smalls,

virtualpurple

Well-Known Member
But folks will remind you “They make activated charcoal pills for people to take”.

While my stomach says; “go ahead, if you’re lucky, I’ll throw up”....

My lungs say; nothing....

and that’s the freaken point!

Trust your LOGIC. Been doing this over 12 years, these subjects came up then as well, and round and round we go.

I do not disagree. And I work in the medical field so I hope that will help a few folks to re-think something like this.

activated charcoal is fine to be taken orally because it is passing through a tunnel, more or less. And when we give it in medicine (pretty much always for ingestion of toxic substances, purposeful or accidental) it is because there is something in there we want the charcoal to bind to and facilitate its exit from the body while minimizing systemic absorption.

The lungs don’t really have that benefit.

Charcoal/carbon doesn’t really dissolve in water or other normal soluble solutions. You can mix it into liquids but it it doesn’t change what it is. Eventually it still settles into the bottom, think of it like really tiny grains of sand.

the only powders anyone should be inhaling are those that are intended for inhalation and that can be absorbed. Charcoal is not one of those things.

Best case scenario someone inhaling charcoal will probably experience irritation to their lungs and cough their brains out. But could also end up resulting in pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Here is an article that refers to accidental aspiration of activated charcoal. Granted this is probably a much larger amount than what @Brewervapesalot is proposing, but I think that when we consider the properties of activated charcoal we can see why we’d want to avoid putting it in our airway.

https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.201409-1607IM

Also helpful to look at;


http://www.mcpur.com/main/library/msds/SDS_Carbon_Coal_ME50097.pdf
 
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