Vaping is bad, we don't know what's in e-liquid, right ? NO.

Hi! Has anything fallen from the sky lately, apart from rain? In my country it didn't, but I would really like you to tell me if you've ever seen anything fall from nowhere, it would make a good subject of discussion in mass-media, as UFOs once were. Until then, we could safely assume that e-liquid hasn't come from nowhere, but is a human-made, studied, quantifiable invention.

Wow, so e-liquid really isn't from an alchemyst's book ? Then, what is it really made of ?

E-liquid has 5 main components, that I also mentioned in my first post:

1. Glycerine: C3H8O3
2. Propylene glycol: C3H8O2
3. Nicotine (chemical formula not relevant)
4. Water (chemical formula not relevant)
5. Flavourings ( a mixture of different components also used in the food industry)

Glycerine is in your body, and in high quantities. You are made of rougly 1-2kg of glycerine (or glycerol) by weight, because is one of the constituents of plant and animal neutral fats (also called triglycerides), apart from fatty acids. In your fat cells (primarily), glycerin reacts with fatty acids to form tryglicerides, which are is the prefered way for the body to store the majority of its energy. Glycerine is found in all food ( that contains fats). Above 280°C, glycerine transforms into acrolein which is toxic, so cigarettes that have temperature control are advised, and should be used. They should be used on a temperature below 270-289°C, preferably below 230°C. They can be used as low as 100°C. 

Propylene glycol is not usually found naturally, but it usually (and easily) enters in the metabolic pathway of glucose, as glycerin, and can be used by the body for energy. In short, the body can use almost the way it does with glucose. Although it is slighlty lioosoluble but also very hidrosoluble, it can enter partialy in the cells membrane and stay there. This is not a bad thing for itself, but everything that exists on any cell's membrane in your body is frequently checked by your white cells to see if that cell is not dangerous or foreign. Sometimes, white cells respond to the propylene glycol, releasing haperine and histamine. In short, some people have a sensitivity to propilene glycol (around 10% of the population) and some are allergic to it (around 2%). Propilene glycol is found in cosmetic products, so sensitive peoole might also react negatively to those. E-liquid formulations without propilene glycol exist.

3. Nicotine is an alaloid found in many plants, like tomato olants or eggplants, although in a minuscule ammount relative to tobacco leaves. That said, food has nicotine, so your body can contain nicotine, although it does not produce it. Some say it is a neurotoxin, while some say it is neuroprotective. Studies show that it inproves atlethic ( by up to 20%, because it helps release adrenalin) and cognitive preformance (by up to 10-40%). Studies also show that it might help protect a person from alzheime', and studies show that it protects the colon from damage, and helps in ulcerative colitis or Chron's disease, as well as medication does. 

Some say it gives dependance, some say it is not the major dependance forming compound in cigarette, but others may be ( lika MAOI's). Although the dependance to cigarettes may be as high for it as for illegal drugs, nicotine itself might only be comparable in this sense to caffeine). It is not carginogenic, but it might sustain tumours in rats after they appeared.

4. Flavourings are the main point of concern, as they can widely vary and have different statuses when related to inhalation. Menthol has a licence in America for inhalation, as it is sometimes used in nebulisers. It is a decongestant. It may be an irritant to the lungs.Any other flavouring is not meant for innhalation and has not been studued in this sense as to now. Compound related to cinnamon are irritants and may be dangerous.

The most concerning flavourings are diketones, like diacetyl, acetyl propionyl, 2,3-dihexanone etc., as they trigger an irreversible disease called bronchitis obliterans, that requires lung transplant. They are very dangerous, and are usually found in cream-like or coustard-like flavours, but also in fruit flacors. They are totally not required in e-liquid and they are an avoidable harm. They are usually find in quantities much lower ( by a factor of 10 to 750 times lower ) than in cigarettes ( that contain a toxic ammount of diketones). Thay are a contributing factor to smoker's diseases. 

There are diketone-free e-liquids. An ammount of 65 ug/day ( micrograms per day) of diketons result in a chance of 1/1000 of having reduced lung function. It is advised not to consume any coustard or creamy flavours.

Unflavoured e-liquids exist.

Are there dangers in using e-cigarettes by relation to e-liquids ?

Yes there are. Most are avoidable. More reaserch is required, although the difference between cigarettes and e-cigarettes is still night and day. Please, also do your own research and be informed about your e-liquids, and try as hard as you can to stop traditional cigarettes and never return to them. The disclaimer can be found on my first post, and should be read thouroughly.

The importance of a right coil for vaping purposes

Although in this post I will get to the subject right away, please feel free to pose any questions you may have (not only about coils, but also about electronic cigarrettes, e-liquid, batteries, and anything related to vaping). I will try to answer as many as I can. 

If you can't reach me this way, contact me through facebook: my name is Mironescu Olivier. 

The disclaimer for this post and for this blogg in general can be found in my first bost. Please read it thouroughly and abide by it, as it explicits some common practices good to be known.

The object that vaporizes the e-liquid in an e-cig is always a almost always coil made of metal, but what are these metals and coils actually made of ? 

Although you may vape almost any metal you may find in a store or online (silver, gold tungsten or any other), the only wires that vapers usually use are (in no particular order now): kanthal ( an iron, chromium and aluminium alloy - FeCrAl ), stainless steel ( a complex range of alloys made mostly of iron, but also containing chromium and nickel, among other substances - you can find them abreviated as ss316, ss316l, ss317, ss317l etc., all beying slightly different alloys - ), nickel ( a wire, with very low resistance, about which concept we will talk later ) and titanium ( an almost pure titanium wire with low resistance, but double of that of nickel ).

Before getting into a little more depth about each one and their safety profiles, we eill talk about two concepts in vapinf and physics: temperature control and resistance ( related to Ohm's law )

1. Temperature control is a feature in most mods ( more rarely found in tube-like or cigarette-like e-cigs ), which allows the e-cig to heat uo the coil and the e-liquid at a specific temperature. When you run energy through a coil in an e-cig or any other device with coils ( fans, modern stove tops etc. ) they tend to heat as high as they can, reaching a temeperature where the heat given by a coil is equal to the amount of heat received by the air or e-liquid touching it. As such they tend to reach a very high temerature, usually attaining 1000°C ( aprox. 1850°F ) or even more. In an e-cig, these temperatures are never achieved, because the user constantly draws more liquid and helps the coil stay at a more reasonable temperature. Nevertheless, some of the e-liquid or cotton can still burn ( although very little usually ).

When a mod is set in temperature contol, the coil can heat up only to the specified temerature, and after the mod starts to regulate it's energy output to the coil, ajusting it very fast and often. To coil can only reach temperatures between 100 to 315°C, only allowing the liquid to vaporize, without burning it. And without incinerating the cotton inside a vaporizer.  TC is one of the most revolutionary tehnologies related to temerature. my advice is to allways use it.

2. Resistance is a measure of how well a metal or a substance can transfer heat or electricity. This is hand-in-hand with ohm's law in metals and vaping. The usual e-cigs have resistivities of 1.5 ohms and above, but sub-ohm coils, or coils that have a lower resistivity are more and more common. The lower the resistivity, the higher the ammount of current can flow through a coil, and the more eliquid can be heated and vaporized, although it usually reaches a slighlty warmer and warmer temperature. Sub-ohm coils are almost only used with TC, so this is not usually a problem.

Now, back to the coils:

Evry metal has problems and there are many disputes about the safest one, although my oppinion is that stainless steel are the safest. We'll see why. 

Please take note that cigarettes are still st least 10-20 times more dangerous and always contain 10-100 of times more metal atoms, even other heavy ones, like cadmium for example.

Kanthal is a very safe wire, because it can (and it is designed ) to be heated at high temeperatures without decomposing or releasing notable amounts of metals. Most coils with resistances of over 1 ohm are made of kanthal, because it has the most resistance. The problem is it is almost impossible for a mod to know the temperature of a coil when powered so, you can't use TC when having kanthal coils. This issue has put it lower in terms of it's health profile.

Alhough nickel is used in vaping, it is very dangerous, and not only that I don't advice anyone to use it, but in fact I advice they wouldn't because of it's two main issues, one of which is a big problem. The first one is that it is so low of a resistance that it can relatively easily short circuit an e-cig, making it dangerous for it's user. It is also very hard to wrap into a coil, as it breaks easily. The biggedt problem alyhough is that it dehidrogenates sunstances like propilene glycol or glicerin into very toxic substances like acrolein ( although in little ammounts). Chemists use it for exactly this reason. To resume, nickel should al.ost always be avoided.

Titanium coils are relatively safe, because tgey have higher resistances, rhey can be used in TC mode, and they they are durable. The main issue is that at high enough temperaures ( above 500-600°C) it could release titanium oxides (although in trace ammounts) which are dangerous and could be carcinogenic, although this fact is disputed and not demonstrated in humans. ). Also, if pierced, it can cath fire, and the fire can not be extinghuised even with water. Because this may be very unlikely, it is relatively safe to use, and is widely used in pre-made coils.

Stainless steel is the best material for coils, because it has a reasonable resistance ( a little below 1 ohm usually ), it can be used in most mods in TC mod, it has been heavily studied and used under high temperatures safely ( a lot of your cooking pots are made of stainless steel). At high enough temeratures, it can releas hexavalent chromium which is highly toxic, bu only in the thousands of degrees celsius, totally unreacheable when vaping. This is the most safe substance to be used in coil making, although it should always me used in TC mode, whithout exception.

The safest materials in descending order are:

Stainless steel > Titanium > Khantal > Nickel ( or nichrome).

Please always use Temprerature control mode, read the discaimer and always try to inform yourself before doing anything vaping related. Rember that vaping can save your life, as it is at least 95% safer than cigarettes (as stated by scientists). Thank you.

Vaping 101 (part1). Is it safe ? Is it an effective smoking cessation product ? The truth might surprise you

Hi,
I'm Mironescu Olivier, a passionate in physics, chemistry and maths (I don't know about anyone else, but I really liked maths it in school), and on this blog I want to talk about the future of the addictive-substance inhaling process, named smoking, and  how the latest discoveries and inventions related to it will change the lives of many, if not also yours ;).

Over the last couple of months, I've been intensively studying vaping, e-cigs, their chemistry, our chemistry when vaping and everything in between. Added my knowledge of chemistry and my wish to become a doctor (I have my most important exams this year), I think this blog would provide most if not all the information necessary to get you off your conventional, toxic cigarettes.

Among many of these (such as NRTs), vaping has become more and more widespread over the world, and a lot of companies (more than 650) jumped in to take it in the mainstream, by inventing an immense ammount of related products.
Their main belief and selling point is that vaping is safer than smoking (by at least 20 times they say), but in the modern world, we can not believe anything anymore of what these huge corps or even small companies say, or at least take it for granted. But could this selling point (that vaping is that safe, or at least safer ), be true, or just another scam ?

Well, the short answer is: totally true. If you smoke, please start caring for yourself , for anyone around you and for your financial security and stop smoking (if you can't give up cold turkey or stop with the help of NRTs, which I know it is close to impossible for most; moreover, NRTs have only 5% succes rate -ouch-). The succes rate for vaping is 30%, and only so low because people give up because their first (usually crappy) e-cig might not work for them, and these statistics were made when only the first e-cigs were on the market. I can assure you those, much unlike any today, were very inefficient in their operation and even in their nicotine delivery.

But what is the long answer ? Well, vaping can be almost totally safe, but can also have some dangers, so having the right facts and best practices about e-cigs and their usage can make a difference. Moreover, not every e-cig ( be it a cig-a-like, tube-shaped e-cig or box mod ) is the same, but this should not be overwhelming, but rather perceived as variety. Also, some can be (much) safer than others, but comparatively, the most dangerous e-cigs ar much more safe than cigarettes.

What about the e-liquid ?

Many say we don't know anything about what's inside, and even more say that it can be even more dangerous when vaporized that cigarettes.

Firstly, e-liquid hasn't fallen from the sky. In fact we people made it, so of course we wknow what's inside it. There are 5 ingredients in e-liquid:  1. water (deionized);  2. vegetable glycerin (which you have plenty of in your body; at least 1 to 2 kg (4-9 pounds) of weight equivalent ) 3.propylene glycol (which is inside food or asthma inhalators; some people -aprox. 10%- may be sensible to it, and a small percentage -2%- is allergic to it (there is a huge variety of propylene glycol free e-liquids) 4. nicotine (which by itself has little or no danger; it is not the carcinogenic compound in cigarettes, others are; it is an alkaloid, as caffeine; it can be found in eggplant, tomatoes and other sollaenacea plant fruits - so, it is in ketchup in a small percentage-; everyone has nicotine in their system -about 2.4 nanograms/ml; it has a simillar structure as nicotinamide -which is vit. B3- ) 5. flavours (which may represent a danger, although unflavoured e-liquids exist; diacetyl and acetyl propionyl have been identified as threats, and they are found in coustard/cream flavours, which should prefferably be avoided; nevertheless, diacetyl is found in concentrations 100-750 times higher in cigarettes, so with the most diacetyl filled e-liquids , they are still much safer; the only approved flavor for inhalation by FDA is menthol).

Seoncdly, the idea about flavours is that they may irritate the lungs or cause a buildup which could cause lipid pneumonia.  The misunderstanding about flavours, which are reffered to as essential oils is that they can stock up as grease or oil in the lungs. Essential oils is only a nickname for such flavours, as they are very different from oils (and such they are not oils or grease), and those used in e-liquids are hidrosoluble. Allmost all flavours are recognised as safe and intensivelly used in the food industry. I will cover irritation and related problems about flavours in another post.

That's about all for my first post. It should cover most basic info if you want to make the jump from smoking. I hove you liked it and that it helped you. Later posts will get into more details about e-cigs/box mods/e-liquids so you can vape as safe as possible.

I try to provide the most accurate information about everything vaping related, and help you make an informed decision, if wanted.

DISCLAIMER (please read thoroughly):
This is not medical information, should not be treated as such, and may also be innacurate. Stay safe, and always make informed and responsible decisions!
Vaping is not intended for children, and only as a smoking cessation alternative.
Please be aware that nicotine poses a health risk to children, animals, and even adults. Nicotine overdose may cause seizures or death. Please keep nicotine-based products out of the reach of children and pets and be aware of nicotine overdose symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, sweating, headaches, heart palpitations, trouble breathing, abdominal cramps, confusion, coma, fainting, increasing salivation, weakness or muscular twitching.
If you experience any of these symptoms seek immediate medical help by calling your local emergency number such as 911 or the United States Poison Control Center at 1(800)-222-1222, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you spill nicotine juice on your skin, the National Institute of Health recommends that you wash the affected area immediately with soap and lots of water for at least 15 minutes.