rastavape said:
are there any toxins released by heating nickel plated aluminum?
does the plating degrade over time? if so how long?
i know that aluminum itself, when heated to fairly high temps similar to the ones reached by the Thermovape, releases toxins, some of which are linked to Alzheimers.
I think the 3 refernces below is good reading if you really want to understand the foundation for current concerns about aluminum.
1. "Exposure to aluminum is usually not harmful, but exposure to high levels can be." [Source: US Department of Health Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
2. Aluminium and Alzheimer's disease, The Alzheimer's Society website.
3. Otto Helmboldt, L. Keith Hudson, Chanakya Misra, Karl Wefers, Wolfgang Heck, Hans Stark, Max Danner, Norbert Rsch "Aluminum Compounds, Inorganic" in Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2007, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim.
It is also good to remember that aluminum is remarkably nontoxic, aluminium sulfate having an LD50 of 6207 mg/kg (oral, mouse), which corresponds to 500 grams for a 80 kg person.
With those references in mind, a few things about the ThermoVape that should help alleviate concerns.
Even if you were to
eat the ThermoVape, and somehow be able to digest it all, and absorb it all, it still would be below the LD50 (Lethal Dose).
The electroless nickel plating may tarnish and wear down on the outside of the thumb switch over long term, extended use (we will strip and replate the switch for free if this ever happens). That said, exposure to heat actually hardens the nickel plating. This hardening means that it is even more stable. The inside (flowpath) is not exposed to wear stress, so it will not break down over time, simply reach a steady state of hardness after repeated thermocycling.
Aluminum, and nickel, for the sake of this discussion cannot release toxins as they are pure elements. When people refer to them, they mean they are toxic in and of themselves if consumed, absorbed, etc.
The Aluminum Alloy we use, in general, contains:
Silicon minimum 0.4%, maximum 0.8% by weight
Iron no minimum, maximum 0.7%
Copper minimum 0.15%, maximum 0.40%
Manganese no minimum, maximum 0.15%
Magnesium minimum 0.8%, maximum 1.2%
Chromium minimum 0.04%, maximum 0.35%
Zinc no minimum, maximum 0.25%
Titanium no minimum, maximum 0.15%
Remainder Aluminum (95.85%-98.56%)
These pure elements combine to make the alloy. The alloy is then machined and completely plated with nickel, which does not break down with heat, it gets harder and more stable.
The best way to avoid aluminum, if you are concerned for the health risk, is to purchase deodorant that does not contain any aluminum, in this instance you are directly applying some amount of aluminum to your skin and it is being absorbed transdermally. Cheap aluminum cook wear is another possible source of exposure, as you are actually consuming (eating) aluminum or an alloy, not toxins, just actual aluminum or an alloy and it is getting broken down and either stored by your body (potentially causing health concerns over time) or excreted.
The ThermoVape is built from the electroless nickel plated aluminum specifically because it is a medical device grade, safe, durable, corrosion resistant, light, strong, and a time tested material and finish, Aluminum is actually remarkably nontoxic when compared with other metals or plastics, and even more so when encased in the nickel plating.
Finally the melting temperature for aluminum is around 1400F (the ThermoVape does not even threaten to run any where near that hot, we are about 1000F below that temp at the core), when you talk about toxin release at lower temperature, that is actually the breakdown of cheap cookwear at 450+F that has been described in the literature. A very separate subject and not applicaple to the ThermoVape. That said, do not use your thermovape as cookwear
, we have not tested that... yet....
Hope that helps.
