Vaporizer material safety - questions specfically about Volcano, Vapexhale Evo, and Vapor Brothers VB1

coconut-pete

New Member
I've read through some of the other threads on this issue, and I kind of disagree with the idea that the only thing that matters is having a clean air path. That's great for knowing that you are not directly sucking up toxins with each hit, but it completely ignores the fact that you're sitting in front of the vaporizer between hits and breathing the ambient air that it is (potentially) outgassing into. Is the heating element itself outgassing anything? What materials are inside the vaporizer and is it designed so that adhesives, wires, circuit boards, screws, etc can get heated during use? If so, then they would be outgassing into the ambient air, making a clean air path during a hit a sort of falsehood, losing the forest for the trees. I mean if someone gave you a glass straw and had you breathe through it, thats a pure glass air path, but would you feel safe breathing through its clean air path while having a bunch of plastic being burned a foot away from you?

The 3 vaporizers in the title are the ones I've narrowed it down to, figured I would ask a few questions about each and see if anyone could answer

For the Volcano, there's a lot of talk about medical certification, but that doesn't really mean much when you look into what certification actually requires. It basically requires that the device works in providing vaporized medicine and that it functions properly(ie: won't set your house on fire). I saw that S&B tested to show no aluminum particulate is present in their vapor, but as far as I can tell there have been no tests done showing whether or not any other toxins(such as hexavalent chromium, benzene, etc.) or plastic compounds end up in the vapor. Does anyone know of any testing that has been done in this regard? Saying the plastic is "food safe" or "medical grade" doesn't really mean much when there are countless plastic compounds that don't currently have well established effects on the human body. It's like calling a bottle safe because it says BPA free while ignoring that its full of BPS and every other compound it contains.

For the Evo, is there any information on the internal components and what materials are used inside? Has it been tested to see what temperature the internal components reach during use? I think it's great that it has an all glass air path(minus the stainless steel pods), but going back to my original point this isn't really comforting if the thing itself is outgassing toxic particulate into the room.

For the VB1, their website says all the right things, but I can't find any testing that they reference other than this 10yr old document which doesn't even show the laboratory name. (https://cdn.vaporbrothers.com/image..._Draw_Testing_Result_for_TO-15_and_Metals.pdf). They make a lot of claims about third party air quality testing and material certifications, but I don't see any of that. For example, Natural Mineral Heater is made from a dense glassy ceramic called porcelainite and was 3rd party lab verified to assure a toxic-free vaporizing experience...what exactly was tested and where is that lab test result?

Thanks for any help actually getting more substantive answers to these questions
 

RobbIt

Well-Known Member
I've read through some of the other threads on this issue, and I kind of disagree with the idea that the only thing that matters is having a clean air path. That's great for knowing that you are not directly sucking up toxins with each hit, but it completely ignores the fact that you're sitting in front of the vaporizer between hits and breathing the ambient air that it is (potentially) outgassing into. Is the heating element itself outgassing anything? What materials are inside the vaporizer and is it designed so that adhesives, wires, circuit boards, screws, etc can get heated during use? If so, then they would be outgassing into the ambient air, making a clean air path during a hit a sort of falsehood, losing the forest for the trees. I mean if someone gave you a glass straw and had you breathe through it, thats a pure glass air path, but would you feel safe breathing through its clean air path while having a bunch of plastic being burned a foot away from you?

The 3 vaporizers in the title are the ones I've narrowed it down to, figured I would ask a few questions about each and see if anyone could answer

For the Volcano, there's a lot of talk about medical certification, but that doesn't really mean much when you look into what certification actually requires. It basically requires that the device works in providing vaporized medicine and that it functions properly(ie: won't set your house on fire). I saw that S&B tested to show no aluminum particulate is present in their vapor, but as far as I can tell there have been no tests done showing whether or not any other toxins(such as hexavalent chromium, benzene, etc.) or plastic compounds end up in the vapor. Does anyone know of any testing that has been done in this regard? Saying the plastic is "food safe" or "medical grade" doesn't really mean much when there are countless plastic compounds that don't currently have well established effects on the human body. It's like calling a bottle safe because it says BPA free while ignoring that its full of BPS and every other compound it contains.

For the Evo, is there any information on the internal components and what materials are used inside? Has it been tested to see what temperature the internal components reach during use? I think it's great that it has an all glass air path(minus the stainless steel pods), but going back to my original point this isn't really comforting if the thing itself is outgassing toxic particulate into the room.

For the VB1, their website says all the right things, but I can't find any testing that they reference other than this 10yr old document which doesn't even show the laboratory name. (https://cdn.vaporbrothers.com/image..._Draw_Testing_Result_for_TO-15_and_Metals.pdf). They make a lot of claims about third party air quality testing and material certifications, but I don't see any of that. For example, Natural Mineral Heater is made from a dense glassy ceramic called porcelainite and was 3rd party lab verified to assure a toxic-free vaporizing experience...what exactly was tested and where is that lab test result?

Thanks for any help actually getting more substantive answers to these questions
Wow you really opened my eyes with your insightful questions. I can’t answer substantively but am very interested in what others have to say.
I’ve been using a Volcano classic for four years.
 

Cheebsy

Microbe minion
Your concerns are certainly validated, but I don't think you'll get specific lab results unless you approach the manufacturer. Other than that you can search for more information about the construction of the vapes you're interested in and make those decisions yourself.

Unless you have a problem with burning butane you should look at the torch powered elev8r. With a decent torch there should be very little contaminants in the atmosphere.
 
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WelshBrok

Well-Known Member
Interested in others answers here as well but technically any vape set to 200c (392f) or above has the potential for benzene in the vapour.
Significant amounts of benzene began to appear at temperatures of 200° C. (392° F), while combustion occurred around 230° (446°F) or above. Traces of THC were in evidence as low as 140° C. (284° F).

edit: unless the presence of benzene was specific to the vape they used in the study
 
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GoldenBud

Well-Known Member
I searched online for "Vapexhale Evo teardown" and it seems like the cables of the heater etc' are set not near the heater, but in the other side; maybe it touches the glass, but not in the hottest part. like how you can hold the vape HLT from the topping, far from the heater. I am not 100% in what I'm saying tho, but it seems like the case with the EVO.

About Volcano... I'll try searching, but I'm pretty sure the cables are not close to the heater too.
 
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