ecig and eliquid safety

[sublimationpurist]

Ecigs have been out for a while now. It appears most users are not experiencing tangible negative affects from them, but it seems to me there are some serious concerns about them. For one thing the purity and consistency of the liquid and atomizer parts is a major issue. Even with perfect liquid and atomizers do pharmaceutical nicotine, propylene glycol, synthetic flavorings and dyes derived from chemical byproducts sound like things you want to inhale? Blue dye is probably the worst, made from aluminum.

Health Basics: E-cigarettes; are you trading one bad habit for another?
http://www.naturalnews.com/034619_e-cigarettes_nicotine_ingredients.html

Besides containing cancer-causing compounds called nitrosamines, e-cigs contain Propylene Glycol (PG), a petroleum derivative which can weaken protein and cellular structure, causing kidney damage and liver abnormalities. It is present in many stick deodorants. The EPA warns factory workers to avoid skin contact with PG in industrial applications. It is actually slightly combustible, so if you buy some e-juice from a non-reputable manufacturer, you may be sparking up the next "battery operated nic-juice rocket launcher" from your own mouth.

The batteries can become clogged with liquid and explode into your mouth. This is probably very unlikely, but still significant IMO.

Electronic cigarette explodes in man's mouth, blows out his teeth
http://www.naturalnews.com/035026_e-cigarettes_explode_teeth.html

I used to vape nicotine with ecigs. While it was enjoyable and seemed "healthier" than smoking to me while I was doing it, I decided I'd rather only vape natural herbs.

Ecigs may very well be healthier than tobacco, but they do have health concerns of their own.

 

[zomger]

Hi there Stephen,
Relatively new to the forum here but this is one area I have collected a good bit of information on through the interwebz, as I switched from analogs to e-cigs at the start of the year.

I honestly believe that you are being misled by main steam media, dude. It's relatively common knowledge that quite often the media will be vastly over dramatic.

Don't get me wrong, obviously inhaling anything foreign into your lungs is probably not as healthy as just using them for what they were meant for. However, e-cigs are largely backed by medical scientists as a viable alternate to smoking analogs.

Now, as for your listed concerns, mainly the guy that has an e-cig blow up in his mouth... Unfortunately, most people will start out buying e-cigs from a gas station or some local store and end up getting extremely ripped off. Spending $50-100 on a e-cig that's very poor in quality and production. This not only ends up (rarely, even for the cheap stuff) in exploding batts, also it doesn't even come close to offering a fraction of what a well made e-cig can get you. And so, most of the people buying the cheapo e-cigs just go back to smoking analogs, disappointed at yet another promising piece of technology that might have helped them stop their filthy habit.

As for the nicotine liquids... Obviously, I can't argue with the side effects of nicotine, so ya got me there. But propylene glycol is hardly dangerous. A simple wiki search, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol, will provide you with better information, but when inhaled there appear to be no side effects or risks. Also, many many many 'e-liquid' vendors off different mixtures from 100% pg (propylene glycol) to 100% vg (vegetable glycol) and some will even do vg and water vapor mixtures, as quite a few people are sensitive to pg (it makes their throats itch.) And not really sure where you got your e-liquid before, but every vendor I've bought from the liquid has been clear everytime (no dyes used.) And as for the nitrosamine levels, http://smoke-vs-vapor.webs.com/nitrosaminelevels.htm read that.

Now, there are still some things I can't argue about, yes, you're still using nicotine, yes, a lot of synthetic flavorings have had no long term health testing done (same with a lot of pharmaceuticals you get out of stores.) But, let me tell you what has happened since I switched from smoking analogs to vapping e-liquid. I run 5 miles every day with no breathing problems, I don't snack nearly as much as I used to, probably because I'm always tasting chocolate, strawberry, and many other flavors in my mouth all the time, as a result I have dropped 4 inches off my waist. I don't get judged as much smoking an e-cig, also I don't stink all the time. I'm spending like 20 bucks a MONTH maximum on my habit when I was spending $100+ a month. And I still look cool doing it As with all things, e-cigs are not for everyone. But for those of us that use them, we are so thankful for them.

 

[Makai]

The synthetic flavours which are being used in e-cigarettes come from the food industry. It's the same which you find in many products you can buy at the grocery store. So they have been tested for a long time already. What hasn't been tested is what long-term effect they have when they are inhaled. But those substances get cleaned out of the airways easily, and don't stay in the airways for long like the tar from cigarettes or small plant particles you may inhale with some vaporizers without waterfilter (I read some users have greenish phlegm etc). There's also no benzene which you may get from vaporizing at higher temperatures etc.

That exploding battery stuff maybe happens with shitty copycat products and selfmade mods, but if you buy from quality from a good company the batteries will not be less safe than the battery in your smartphone.

I recommend everyone who is still a cigarette smoker to try some good and popular e-cig battery (eGo Twist) and atomizer models (DCT, CE4, Vivi Nova). It is a much better and less unhealthy way to get your nicotine.

I've been using e-cigarettes for 3-4 months, and a vaporizer (V-Tower) for a week. When I started using the e-cigarette my airways have been significantly improved. Each time I used the vaporizer without waterfilter I got asthma-like symptoms for some hours, producing phlegm etc. (my airways are still quite damaged, so the negative effects it has on me are probably stronger than average). Even with (cheap) waterfilter it can be quite heavy on the airways, especially on temperatures over 200° or when you inhale deeply. A lot heavier than a joint smoked with activated carbon filter. The e-cigarette makes significantly less problems. Though it's also not completely without problems. PG for example irritates and dries out the airways, so you have to drink a lot etc. But unlike with vaporizers the irritation stops for me after 10 minutes or so, while the negative effects of the vaporizer may still be noticeable on the next day (sore throat, increase production of phlegm). And since I changed the type of liquid to a PG/VG mix there is no irritation anymore.

I hope I'll find a way to make the vaporizer equally harmless to my airways as the e-cigarettes, because despite the problems I really love it. Maybe my body just has to get used to it...

 

[Lo]

I have to agree that most of the news you see on ecigs uses false information. Even the FDA still has their bad press release up which gets picked up by news outlets all the time even though the FDA now KNOWS their statement was incorrect and misleading.

I am coming up on my 3 yr smoke free mark thanks to ecigs. I also do a lot of advocacy work for this industry and can tell you there is a lot of misinformation out there.

While ecigs can't be proven to be totally harmless yet, need more data there is conclusive proof that they are nearly 4,000 times safer than smoking.

You can read up here if you'd like: http://casaa.org/Electronic_Cigarettes.html

My doctor is thrilled with how much my lung function improved and considers me a non smoker. Honestly was life changing to me to switch to vapor over smoke. I'm also down to very low nic levels and with ecigs you absorb very little nic so I am pleased as punch with how far I've come myself.

 

[mwahle1]

I smoked 3 packs of cigarettes a day for over 20 years and I unsuccessfully tried almost every method in order to quit smoking. Found, researched, and started using the e-cig about 3 years ago and never looked back. My lungs, my sense of smell and taste, blood pressure, blood circulation, all have dramatically improved.

Are e-cigs 100% safe? Only time will tell, but the initial research appears to indicate that they are 100’s if not 1000’s of times less detrimental compared to combusting tobacco.

 

[Makai]

Here's the results of a new study from Italian labs which was focused on the release of airborne contaminants (second-hand smoke/vapor) of both the traditional cigarette and the e-cigarette.

1) This means that the human lung absorbs most if not all of the nicotine which has long been questioned within the global electronic cigarette community; and 2) This also means no nicotine was detected in the ‘second-hand vapor’. All other substances measured for electronic cigarettes appear to be FAR below levels for human inhalation according to the FDA. In fact, the levels were so low that it proves (in my opinion) that it is more hazardous to your health to breath the air in any major downtown metropolitan city during heightened times of driving.

http://www.utahvapers.com/clearstream.html
http://www.utahvapers.com/resources/Clearstream-air-lab-results.pdf

 

[AGBeer]

I too have taken the e-cig route once upon a time (I have been nicotine free for some time now though)

Will I agree that they are less harmful than smoking? Absolutely, without a doubt, no question.
Is it 'completely safe'? Of course not - you are still dealing with a (poison) nicotine.

The chance of overdose (death inducing or not) is a very real possibility with nicotine (in any form)
If my dog/cat/anyotheranimal or lord forbid a toddler/child (heck even adult) were to ingest the e-cig liquid (directly from the bottle not via the e-cig) the chances of severe poisoning or death are very real. Nicotine is no joke and must be respected in its handling.

Just ask anyone who makes the e-cig juice.