Concerned over materials used in vaporizers

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time2change

Member
Hi,
I'd like to switch to using a vaporizer for cannabis.
However, I've got concerns about the materials used in the vaporizers.
I worry about chemicals leaching out of metals and plastics.

What's considered the healthiest setup? Glass is favoured i've read.

For instance:

After a bit of research I've gone off the idea of the 'Volcanoe'..
The airflow going through the electronics... an aluminum heating element.. e.t.c.
Plus i contacted them directly to inquire about what materials are used in the bag and whether they are heat safe and they never got back to me.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but they also are not upfront about where they source their parts from.. which is alarming to me.

i've since been looking at the Super surfer, the herbalizer... and i feel i'm out of my depth - i don't know enough to make an informed decision regarding safety from unit to unit.
can someone help me out?

Regards,
J
 
jojo monkey

jojo monkey

Well-Known Member
Manufacturer
The volcano has been lab tested. I can't find the doc anymore though? Maybe they don't stand by it anymore? The argument is that the materials are safe because the temps are below any temp that cause outgassing.

http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/r...uestions-claims-but-little-documentaion.5776/

https://outgassing.nasa.gov/

There are a few vapes with glass heaters if you want to go that far. The cloud evo and the vrip tech wand are two.

I think one argument for not telling the exact material is that it might be a trade secret.

It seems people tend not to care as long as they don't smell anything funny. Cooking off heater grease or whatever is standard before using a vape for the first time.
 
Seek

Seek

Apprentice Daydreamer
The aluminium heat exchanger in the Volcano doesn't off-gas at the temperatues the Volcano runs at.
And the air is cool before it enters the exchanger, so it doesn't matter what materials it comes to contact with.
If you are worried about the cold air touching different materials, then you should be worried about breathing at all, as the air aound us interacts with everything around us.
That's why imo we should only be concerned about materials from the point where heat begins to your lips.
Also, the electronics in the volcano are isolated form the airpath, the air goes into a silicone tube, then a pump, then a tube again and the the exchanger, bowl and finally into the bag.
I believe that any vape that has good reputation on FC is not offgassing anything bad.
 
KeroZen

KeroZen

Chronic vapaholic
Yeah silicone... deemed safe even for food, until you realize they forgot to tell you about the plasticizers... Then it reminds you that phtalates and BPA were deemed food-safe by the FDA for a long time... and are now banned in most of the civilised world, and the list goes on.

Surprisingly or not, there's very often a clear relationship between the time where the patents on those materials expire and the time where scientific tests actively funded by the manufacturer to debunk any unfavorable claims against their product stop too... and the truth emerges, finally.

Did you know that they used to spray kids directly with DDT back then? :tup:
 
Hippie Dickie

Hippie Dickie

The Herbal Cube
Manufacturer
Seek said:
The aluminium heat exchanger in the Volcano doesn't off-gas at the temperatues the Volcano runs at.
Click to expand...

sure it does, just not very much, but it still does. That was Einstein's first Nobel (more or less). Now, even though it is a very small amount of aluminum you are breathing, it's still there, you are still breathing it in. And, as much as i vape, it would be a lot of aluminum vapor over time. after all, water evaporates at room temperature, and the volcano heater is a lot hotter than room temperature.
 
Slow Draw McGraw

Slow Draw McGraw

Well-Known Member
Company Rep
KeroZen said:
Did you know that they used to spray kids directly with DDT back then? :tup:
Click to expand...
All joking aside, kids, watch out for the DDT
tmB6JDm.0.gif
 
T

time2change

Member
Hippie Dickie said:
sure it does, just not very much, but it still does. That was Einstein's first Nobel (more or less). Now, even though it is a very small amount of aluminum you are breathing, it's still there, you are still breathing it in. And, as much as i vape, it would be a lot of aluminum vapor over time. after all, water evaporates at room temperature, and the volcano heater is a lot hotter than room temperature.
Click to expand...

Which vaporizer do you own?
As i predict i'll be using it tons, and the whole idea was so that it'd be healthier..
I can smoke half an ounce of hash in a week easily, so i think i'll probably be using it heavily too, so i really want to make sure there isn't possibility of a buildup of; initially low level toxins - that due to high usage - becomes a problem..

@Seek - thanks for clarifying on the airflow of the volcanoe.

i'm confused.. there seem to be differing opinions on what's safe.
t2c
 
time2change,
J

joshuagarrett

New Member
time2change said:
Hi,
I'd like to switch to using a vaporizer for cannabis.
However, I've got concerns about the materials used in the vaporizers.
I worry about chemicals leaching out of metals and plastics.

What's considered the healthiest setup? Glass is favoured i've read.

For instance:

After a bit of research I've gone off the idea of the 'Volcanoe'..
The airflow going through the electronics... an aluminum heating element.. e.t.c.
Plus i contacted them directly to inquire about what materials are used in the bag and whether they are heat safe and they never got back to me.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but they also are not upfront about where they source their parts from.. which is alarming to me.

i've since been looking at the Super surfer, the herbalizer... and i feel i'm out of my depth - i don't know enough to make an informed decision regarding safety from unit to unit.
can someone help me out?

Regards,
J
Click to expand...
You are not wrong at all..Poor vaping products will only lead to trouble..
 
joshuagarrett,
BD9

BD9

Well-Known Member
time2change said:
Hi,
I'd like to switch to using a vaporizer for cannabis.
However, I've got concerns about the materials used in the vaporizers.
I worry about chemicals leaching out of metals and plastics.

and i feel i'm out of my depth - i don't know enough to make an informed decision regarding safety from unit to unit.
can someone help me out?

Regards,
J
Click to expand...

I'm very late to this party but if you have not purchased a vaporizer yet I would suggest a Vaporbrothers VB1 Hands Free desktop Vaporizer. Very easy to use and for a lack of better phrasing, they do 'emissions testing' on their vaporizers.
I had the same concerns that you have now. I'm very satisfied with my Vaporbrothers VB1 and feel it's safe.

All Vaporbrothers products conforms to strict self imposed standards of inhalation safety unheard of in the industry. We conform to worldwide RoHS standards - eliminating lead and other toxic materials

Our glass and ceramic components are always well made, consistent and durable. We inspect 100% of our product, even literally under a microscope at times. Vaporbrothers ceramics are similar to porcelain but about 5 times stronger.

All Vaporbrothers Vaporizers feature our exclusive Natural Mineral Heater - an extremely dense and non porous ceramic material that does not expose you to hot metal or other questionable materials. It is the worlds first ceramic heating element custom designed for vaporizing.

Good luck!
 
BD9,
Wizsteve

Wizsteve

Well-Known Member
time2change said:
Which vaporizer do you own?
As i predict i'll be using it tons, and the whole idea was so that it'd be healthier..
I can smoke half an ounce of hash in a week easily, so i think i'll probably be using it heavily too, so i really want to make sure there isn't possibility of a buildup of; initially low level toxins - that due to high usage - becomes a problem..

@Seek - thanks for clarifying on the airflow of the volcanoe.

i'm confused.. there seem to be differing opinions on what's safe.
t2c
Click to expand...

For heavy usage nothing beats the Volcano Solid Valve. the oven is huge 2 grams+ ground is easy to fit.:leaf:
Make your own bags and any size you want , how awesome is filling a six foot bag? .:clap:

The Volcano is safe and has been used for many medical studies :science:and was the one picked to be used at Hospital somewhere don't remember where but was for cancer i think.( aired many years ago ):myday:

So if your a heavy user the volcano is the way to go, for it will stand the test of time mine has been going 10+ years best purchase i ever made . :):rockon:
 
psychonaut

psychonaut

Company Rep
Company Rep
Not conventional advice, but I believe that a quartz nail and oil rig is one of the cleanest ways to vaporize. Most people can make their own rosin at home with a hair straightener and flowers. Now you just need to make sure your material is clean.
 
psychonaut,
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Vape Donkey 650

Vape Donkey 650

All vape, no smoke please.
Hey guys... I'm glad I found this thread. I have questions as well although I'm not losing any sleep over it.

I have been using a volcano solid valve for years, as well as the arizer extreme Q, davinci ascent, crafty, and divine tribe ceramic donuts (for dabbing) for shorter periods and I believe they are all quality vapes that don't off-gas any meaningful amount of harmful emissions to the user if used properly.

However, when it comes to extra parts, modifications, and such on our vapes, I'm not always so sure.

Fore example, I must quote myself here: regarding PVC hoses:

Vape Donkey 650 said:
My intended use is quite different from most others, not as a whip, but as a semi-rigid yet flexible joint or short connector. I love the DT 2.5 ceramic donut, but I like to connect it to a glass globe before it goes to a hose connected to an elbow then into my rig, I prefer this over connecting the hose directly to the stock mouthpiece. And glass globes and pieces that connect directly to this base are far and between.

Earlier, I was using a piece of PVC I bought from home depot to join the two

HsDiXdL.jpg


and also for smaller hand-held bubbler pieces, which are designed to fit with the smaller, ubiquitous "micro-skillet glass globe" or many other generic names.

bdKJdkt.jpgp


Everything was fine and well, and I was sharing this solution over at the divine tribe thread, until our resident forum master OF took a look and advised caution against my choice of materials over here

Not knowing much about my pvc hose, I looked it up and found it should be good to 170F, even though it is barely touching my vape or being subjected to prolonged direct contact to hot surfaces like a vaporizer whip would be. From what I'm reading here, the arizer whips are a clear pvc similar to what I'm using here? :uhh: So shouldn't that be safe?

So fast forward a bit, to an unrelated vape project, I bought the DDave Mod for my arizer extreme Q as well, and it came with some silicon hosing 1/2" ID that worked perfect for my connector piece, and I'm using that now instead.

2VbmUnV.jpg


LNvUNEb.jpg


Although for the smaller upper connections on the globe, I still have PVC. This seems to be working fine and I'm going to get around to procuring some silicon or other hose for those little parts.

However, I'm still wondered what (if any) harmful crap or off-gassing I might have been breathing by using the PVC hose for nearly 2 years. What kind of stuff might be released if it was regularly heat-soaked to a modest 80-90F, but was exposed to brief bursts of +/- 400F hot vapor repeatedly? :huh: Does anyone have any info on this or ideas on where I could look this up? I've done some searching and tried to contact USPlastics, but they don't like responding to emails about "aromatherapy" uses ;) :cool: :D
Click to expand...

Post been sittin there for nearly a week, no replies no views probably. Not the most popular thread I suppose?

What do people think about the use of PVC for hot vaporizer parts that are in contact with hot hot thc vapor?

Good? Bad? Dunno? :shrug:
 
Vape Donkey 650,
Vape Donkey 650

Vape Donkey 650

All vape, no smoke please.
rogrog said:
you've probably been inhaling estrogen and other hormones. that's true with most heated or damaged plastics at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply; it has not been easy to get much specific info about this kind of stuff.

I read over that article, and it is rather broad-ranging, some of it may not apply here, but it also brings up the issue of the omnipresence of these kind of compounds in our modern environment. Dose-age wise, do you think regular whip usage with a PVC or silicon hose is even a much larger source of this stuff compared to other sources for the average person? :uhh:

And...is that the worst you got? :D

What's so bad with a little estrogen? I'm a grown person, I'm not too concerned with "developmental" issues from xenoestrogens. Even if these kind of compounds like BPA build up in our system, isn't the effect only temporary until we piss it out in a few days? (granted if the person not being continually exposed to steady doses of it?)

Plus, we're trying to vape thc here, isn't that just a plant estrogen? Or at least estrogen-inducing in our bodies? :huh: Is that qualitatively bad now? Nearly 20 years for me now, I'm not even close to growing titties yet :D

I think it's the possibility of pthalathes, or plasticizers, that I should be more concerned with, since those can be implicated in various cancers and other ailments. But I'm not convinced I'm pushing my materials to the point where this stuff is gassing-off in any measurable or meaningful way from my PVC hose. This is the same stuff that arizer was giving to (tens of?) thousands of people in their whip kits, and that little glass elbow sitting and simmering for hours potentially gets much hotter than the PVC does in my rig. Would arizer be doing so many people that dirtily? (new word I made :D dirtily)

If that stuff was so bad for us, why haven't I heard of a popular uprising against arizer? Although I have read they did change to silicon now for newer kits that are sold.

Even if these undesirable compounds may be off-gassing in minuscule amounts from my PVC, would these effects be minimized or eliminated by using a different material?

Medical / food grade silicon seems to be the top choice, with some other guys favoring PTFE tubing. I read all about this over on the vaporizer whip thread and posted some similar questions, but I didn't get any reply in a week now. :huh: :shrug:

And lastly...the potential harm of pvc / silicon tubing.... versus SMOKING :spliff: with its known risks of particulates, carbons, tars, other crap, etc...

how do those risks compare? :hmm: :sherlock:

Thanks, I appreciate your consideration, and I don't at all mean to be flippant here, just trying to learn, and try to make the best choices. :tup:
 
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Vape Donkey 650,
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