Understanding Vape Juice

Vape juice also referred to as e-juice or e-liquid has four main ingredients:

Vegetable Glycerin
Propylene Glycol
Flavoring
Nicotine

It is an viscous liquid which is used to fill an electronic vape or electronic tobacco in order to provide nicotine. Also, don’t forget that you can get vape juice with no nicotine as well. The e-liquid is heated inside the vape to create clouds of vapor.

You might be wondering: are the ingredients in vape juice safe to use in vaping?

Before we look into the ingredients in vape juice, it’s important to know that these substances are considered “Generally Required As Safe (GRAS)” by the FDA for human ingestion. But the health risks of smoking or vaporizing these chemicals aren’t well understood.

By the end of this article, you’ll know:

Every ingredient in your e-juice
What it’s used for?
What does this mean for the vaping experience?

We’ll start off with vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol since it makes up the major portion of the e-juice’s content. Both are utilized as humectants (substance to help preserve humidity) in everyday household items in cosmetics and food items.

Vegetable Glycerin (VG)

What is Vegetable Glycerin (VG)?

Vegetable glycerin (VG) also known as Glycerol is an opaque and thick liquid that is typically made from soybeans or palm trees. It is also made from animal fat , but it is less commonly.

Many people confuse these with vegetable oil due to the thick and syrupy texture but VG isn’t exactly identical to vegetable oil. Glycerol is water soluble but vegetable oil isn’t.

VG is recognized by the FDA as an FDA-approved “generally accepted as safe” chemical for human ingestion. However, the health consequences of breathing in Glycerol or VG is not yet known.

What is VG used to do?

Glycerol is utilized within the world of cooking to sweeten foods because it imparts the taste of a slight sweetness. It’s also used in the form of a food additive to preserve moisture, aid in thickening foods and even homogenize ingredients.

In the industry of pharmaceuticals, Glycerol is used in cosmetic creams to retain moisture as well as increasing solubility of other ingredients in order to make it more easily absorbed by the skin.

The ingredient VG is commonly used in personal care products such as shampoo, makeup, deodorant, soap, skin and hand cream toothpaste, as well as drops for the eyes.

It is also present in food products like baked goods, cheeses, gel capsule pills, yogurt and many other processed food items.

How does VG influence your vaping experience?

VG influences the amount of vapor produced due to it’s viscosity. The greater the VG ratio, the bigger the clouds. Vapers who are cloud chasers will use the highest VG ratios in sub-ohm vapes to produce large and plump clouds.

VG is also renowned for its smooth and soft throat hit.

Because of the thickness and thickness of VG, it makes it more difficult for the coil in your vape to wick which can cause dry hits. Thus, a high ratio of VG can take longer for the cotton in your vape’s coil to be fully saturated.

It’s also important to mention that VG makes it difficult for you to wash your tanks in comparison to PG because of its sticky consistency.

Propylene Glycol (PG)

What is Propylene Glycol?

Propylene Glycol is an inert and colorless liquid made from petroleum that has an ethereal sweet flavor. The texture of PG is syrupy but is runnier compared to vegetable glycerin.

Propylene Glycol is often confused with a harmful chemical that is found in antifreeze, called Ethylene Glycol. Because of the high toxicity of ethylene glycol, a lot of companies are now employing an alternative known as Propylene glycol. The chemical PG is utilized in products that are intended for pet owners and for humans. ethylene glycol requires proper handling.

Propylene glycol (PG) is one chemical that has been approved by the FDA to be consumed by humans, and it isn’t considered to be cancerous. When inhaling PG, the long-term health consequences are not yet fully understood.

What are the uses of PG?

PG is commonly used as a food additive due to its ability to hold moisture, making ingredients thicker, as well in gluing various ingredients together.

Foods that use PG as an additiveinclude: salad dressing, soft drinks, ice cream, packaged frosting, boxed cake mix colored food products, commercially available.

Cosmetic products that contain PG such as shampoo, lotion, mouthwash, ointments, toothpaste, and deodorant.

How will PG affect your vaping experience?

The PG component is used as a carrier for e-juices to carry the flavoring. Therefore, the greater the ratio of PG, you’ll experience more flavor when compared to the VG.

A higher level of PG is also linked to an increased throat sensation which is similar to the sensation of inhaling tobacco smoke.

The consistency of PG is lower as compared to VG. It is much easier to clean off the vape. If you’re using a device with an excessive PG ratio, you could also experience leaks, depending on the device you’re using.

Some people are sensitive to PG, and if you have allergic symptoms like an upset throat or skin irritation, it may be advisable to choose an e-juice that has a greater the VG/N ratio.

Flavoring

What are the flavoring concentrates?

E-juices that contain flavoring concentrates are made using a combination of natural and artificial flavors to reproduce the taste of a food or drink.

E-juice manufacturers use ‘food grade flavoring concentrates approved by FEMA (flavour extracts producers’ association). While the concentrates for flavoring are food-grade however, the effects of inhaling these concentrates are not completely understood.

What is the purpose of flavoring concentrates? for?

Flavoring concentrates are found in baked foods, sodas, candy as well as any processed food which contain artificial flavoring.

When vape juice flavors are made, a flavor like strawberry could combine different flavors to recreate the experience of eating a strawberry. Mixology is a science as well as an art.

How does flavoring concentrates affect your experience when you vape?

Flavoring concentrates comprise no less than 10% E-juice’s total content.

E-juices are not made with flavors made from oil.

Flavorings belonging to the diketone group, like diacetyl and acetoin as well as Acetyl propionyl are components that are thought to be hazardous when inhaled. Diacetyl became a health hazard in the media when employees in a microwave popcorn plant started to contract an uncommon lung disease known as popcorn lung or bronchiolitis .

The amount found in diacetyl in cigarettes is 10 to 100 times more than any e-juice found.

Nicotine

How do you define nicotine?

Nicotine is an alkaloid which is found in the nightshade family of plants like tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and tobacco.

Nicotine is a highly addicting substance, and is among the primary reasons cigarettes are difficult to quit.

Nicotine is considered an stimulant, however it can also be used to relax people as well.

Many people incorrectly believe that nicotine is the cause of cancer in cigarettes but it’s the tar as well as other ingredients in cigarettes that have carcinogenic properties when inhaled. Nicotine is extremely addictive however there aren’t any scientific studies to support that nicotine causes cancer.

What can nicotine be used for?

In order to help smokers quit Nicotine is used as nicotine gums, inhalers nicotine patches and E-liquid.

It can be difficult due to strong cravings for nicotine.

Nicotine is used in vape juices and other nicotine replacement therapies to assist those who want to quit smoking. Vapers often use vape juices to experience the sensation of smoking and also to get nicotine in a safer way.

Since nicotine in vape juice can be used as a quitting aid and aid in quitting smoking, 0 nic vape juice is also readily available. It is the last step to lowering the amount of nicotine you consume for good.

What effects does nicotine have on the vaping experience?

Vaping nicotine can come in a variety of levels, including 0 mg, 3 mg, 6 mg and 12 mg.

Not all vape juices have nicotine in them, so you can order 0 mg nicotine E-liquids if you wish to stop smoking but keep the smoking sensation.

The more nicotine you take in will be, the more intense the throat hit. Nicotine has a peppery flavor and may make the flavor sharper.

There are two types of nicotine two kinds: freebase nicotine and nicotine salts.

Freebase nicotine is also referred to as regular nicotine. It’s most commonly found in 0 mg, 3 milligrams, six mg or 12 mg.

Nicotine salts are fairly recent and what differentiates them from standard nicotine (freebase) is that vapers are able to vape higher nicotine levels without the harsh taste as the freebase nicotine. It’s the closest vaping experience to delivering nicotine like smoking cigarettes would.

Nicotine salts also are known as the nic salts. Nic salts are commonly found in the 25 – 50 mg nicotine strength.

All e-juice bottles have to be protected from children in order to keep youngsters from drinking e-juices. Nicotine overdose in children can be fatal.