the short story ......
Background and aims
Aldehydes are emitted by electronic cigarettes due to thermal decomposition of liquid components. Although elevated levels have been reported with new-generation high-power devices, it is unclear whether they are relevant to true exposure of users (vapers) because overheating produces an unpleasant taste, called a dry puff, which vapers learn to avoid. The aim was to evaluate aldehyde emissions at different power levels associated with normal and dry puff conditions.
Design
Two customizable atomizers were prepared so that one (A1) had a double wick, resulting in high liquid supply and lower chance of overheating at high power levels, while the other (A2) was a conventional setup (single wick). Experienced vapers took 4-s puffs at 6.5 watts (W), 7.5 W, 9 W and 10 W power levels with both atomizers and were asked to report whether dry puffs were generated. The atomizers were then attached to a smoking machine and aerosol was trapped.
Setting
Clinic office and analytical chemistry laboratory in Greece.
Participants
Seven experienced vapers.
Measurements
Aldehyde levels were measured in the aerosol.
Findings
All vapers identified dry puff conditions at 9 W and 10 W with A2. A1 did not lead to dry puffs at any power level. Minimal amounts of aldehydes per 10 puffs were found at all power levels with A1 (up to 11.3 µg for formaldehyde, 4.5 µg for acetaldehyde and 1.0 µg for acrolein) and at 6.5 W and 7.5 W with A2 (up to 3.7 µg for formaldehyde, 0.8 µg for acetaldehyde and 1.3 µg for acrolein). The levels were increased by 30 to 250 times in dry puff conditions (up to 344.6 µg for formaldehyde, 206.3 µg for acetaldehyde and 210.4 µg for acrolein, P < 0.001), while acetone was detected only in dry puff conditions (up to 22.5 µg).
Conclusions
Electronic cigarettes produce high levels of aldehyde only in dry puff conditions, in which the liquid overheats, causing a strong unpleasant taste that e-cigarette users detect and avoid. Under normal vaping conditions aldehyde emissions are minimal, even in new-generation high-power e-cigarettes.
Conclusion
Aldehyde emissions in EC aerosol are associated directly with dry puff conditions. In normal vaping conditions, the levels of aldehydes emissions are minimal and by far lower than the levels in tobacco cigarette smoke, despite the use of high power levels. In dry puff conditions, aldehyde emissions are significantly elevated to very high levels, but vapers are not expected to be exposed to such levels during normal EC use, even when they use new-generation high-power devices.
the long story a good read
E-cigarettes generate high levels of aldehydes only in ‘dry puff’ conditions - Farsalinos - 2015 - Addiction - Wiley Online Library
I know this might piss some people off, but a fair study was done, and found that on high voltage tanks and MOD's produce high levels of formaldehyde
nytimes.
com/2014/05/04/business/some-e-cigarettes-deliver-a-puff-of-carcinogens.html?smid=fb-share
E-cigarette cancer warning as new study finds mint and menthol flavour risk
The study of menthol and peppermint vapes revealed high concentrations of a carcinogenic additive called pulegone that US watchdogs recently banned in food.
The pulegone additive, a constituent of oil extracts from mint plants, is believed to cause liver cancer if absorbed in high enough quantities.
Mint, menthol e-cigarette liquids high in cancer-causing compound: study - Reuters
The findings, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine
Vape Pods Taste Minty Thanks to Extremely High Levels of a Chemical Banned in Food
But despite all the evidence that pulegone is carcinogenic and causes liver toxicity, researchers found the chemical is present in mint and menthol-flavored e-cig liquid at levels far above a safe threshold.
This study is the latest in a growing pile of proof to how little-regulated e-cigs and vapes are. To illustrate that, researchers compared pulegone levels in mint and menthol e-cig liquid to levels in menthol cigarettes. At all levels of daily consumption, pulegone exposure from vape pods are significantly higher than exposure from cigarettes, with rates ranging from 44 to 1,608 times higher.
So much for Juul's best seller - menthol.
Ok I'm hoping I don't get heat for these questions/statements but educating ones self especially with something that is still very new is important to me.
1. Read some articles on how there is second hand vape similar to cigarettes (99% better mind you) what are your thoughts? Vaping may not be as safe as smokers think, research suggests | Society | The Guardian
2. Formaldehyde found in builds running at high watts/voltage? But 0% at low/normal builds, what i can't seem to find is whats considered to high for a Mechanical Mod or even for a V/W, V/V Setup? My normal build for a mech mod is twisted single coil 24 gauge 6-7 wraps, usually gets about 0.28 ohms and single coil 8 wraps of 24 gauge puts out 0.73 ohms on my flavor builds.
Before You Vape: High levels of Formaldehyde Hidden in E-Cigs - NBC News
Hi ECF,
I've been a member here on ECF for nearly 4 years now, and one thing that keeps me coming back is the positive atmosphere and sense of community. There are many helpful, knowledgeable, and kind people here that go above and beyond when it comes to helping out fellow vapers, and for this I am extremely grateful. Unfortunately, for some time now I've noticed an increasing trend of being judgmental and condescending towards other people's vaping style and preferences.
Whether vaping with an eGo battery at 7 watts or a .2 ohm build on a 150 watt box, we are all still vapers. We all made an extremely positive change from smoking cigarettes (well, most of us) to the fun and enjoyable world of vaping, but it seems some people are forgetting our common interest and accomplishment and instead focus on the differences, and use those differences to deride others.
Not everybody needs a high-powered device, plenty of people are perfectly happy with a more moderate vape and they aren't any less of a "real vaper" than those with high power or high-end setups. Alternatively, not everyone is satisfied vaping at lower power levels or with cheaper gear, and it does not make someone an immature showoff because they seek out higher performance and/or higher end equipment.
I have seen more examples than I can even begin to remember of thinly veiled insults aimed at people looking for bigger clouds or more power, just as I have seen plenty of useless suggestions when people pressure someone into a piece of equipment that they have made perfectly clear they have no interest in.
So I make a humble request of my fellow vapers here on ECF:
Please show respect towards the vaping style/preference of others.
Thanks for your time
Hi,
I just read reports that pulegone, which is found in peppermint oil and is a carcinogen, are found in "minty" e-cigs.
Vape Pods Taste Minty Thanks to Extremely High Levels of a Chemical Banned in Food
High levels of cancer-causing chemical found in mint and menthol e-cigarettes: Study
This causes concern as I've been mixing my own juice using menthol crystals and PG, VG. I wonder if pulegone is found in menthol crystals too. As I understand, menthol crystal is derived from peppermint, just like pulegone, but that doesn't mean menthol has pulegone does it? It seems menthol has its own molecular structure.
Thanks
Concerns about dripping
Newer-generation e-cigs allow users to choose — and change — what flavorings they heat up in their devices. Most vapers choose a liquid with nicotine (that addictive, stimulant found in tobacco). To get the biggest nicotine hit from each puff, some vapers take the outside cover off of their e-cigarette and use an eyedropper to “drip” the liquid directly onto the device’s coil.
This is an atomizer used for dripping. A couple drops of e-liquids are dripped directly onto the hot coils to create a vapor cloud.
E-liquids reach higher temperatures when dripped directly onto the coil. This also creates a bigger vapor cloud and provides a bigger throat hit. A new study now raises special concerns for teens who drip.
Allowing the liquid to get superhot can transform harmless chemicals in the e-liquid into toxic ones. (Note: At least one recent study showed that the hotter the vaped liquid became, the more likely it was to undergo such a toxic transformation.) And dripping makes this super-heating likely. Some people even use attachments, called atomizers, to do this more effectively.
Vaping hobbyists that do smoke tricks may have popularized dripping, says Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin. A psychiatrist at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., she’s been studying vaping behaviors in teens. Many now drip, she and her colleagues report.
This team surveyed 1,080 Connecticut high schoolers who said they vaped. One in every four teen vapers said he or she had tried dripping.
This is the first time any study has reported on the popularity of dripping in teens. (Researchers don’t yet know how common dripping is among adults.) The new statistics appear in the February Pediatrics.
Most teens who dripped said they had hoped it would let them make thicker vapor clouds or give the vapor a stronger taste. At present, little is known about the health risks of this type of vaping, Krishnan-Sarin notes.
And that worries her. “There’s great concern,” she says, “that kids are being exposed to higher levels of known carcinogens this way.” Researchers don’t yet know if this is true. And that’s because no one has yet studied whether more of these compounds get into the body when people drip instead of vaping normally.
For now, Krishnan-Sarin says a bigger vapor cloud or more flavorful hit probably isn’t worth the risk. “You don’t know what you’re exposing yourself to,” she points out, and no one should assume that the e-liquids and the vapors they generate are harmless
Like a lot of us I recently started sub-ohming and I learned pretty quickly that I needed to cut down the nic level. I was vaping 12 mg 50/50 in both sized Nautilus, but now with my Sub-tank mini and nano I am down to 6 mg. Just curious how much others have reduced their nic levels when they sub-ohm?
I have the Smok xPro M80 plus and I have a couple Kanger subtank minis I use with it. I usually use .5 ohm coils. Sometimes it will show the ohms fairly correctly at .54 or even .61, which seems close enough. However, as I puff, the ohms reading will tend to change after every few puffs. Sometimes it will even say up to 1.5 or 2.0 ohms on the same tank coil! One tank seems to do it worse than the other, but the two I use now both will change quite often, and once in awhile quite drastically. It sometimes helps if I unscrew the tank and screw it back on, but if it isn't really tight, the ohms read are really far off from what they should be. I'm not sure if it is the tanks or the M80 plus that has the problem. When it reads really high, if I don't catch it before I take a puff, it is horrible and burny-dry, since it thinks the ohms are so high...
Has anyone else had this problem and/or have any ideas as to how it can be fixed??
By the way, I've cleaned the connections and everything thoroughly, so it's not that...
Hey all,
I've always vaped a high nic concentration. Probably since I started in somewhat of the early days 6 years ago at least and the equipment sucked so the high nic levels kinda offset the equipment. Vape 30mg.
I recently got an atty with a big airhole so I was able to go sub ohm at like
.5ohm at 20-30 watts at my normal 30mg+ nic. Holy **** - it kicked my ***!!! I had to drank a gallon of water after 1 in a half hits.
Do any of you guys notice such a big difference in nicotine amounts when switching vaping styles. When I mouth to lung I only take in maybe a quarter of the actual vapor that's produced- but I use like 30mg+ of nic. But I really like the throat hit the high nic amounts provide.
What are your experiences ? Am I crazy with having to use 30mg+ for my normal mouth to lung vaping style.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
a few little questions. I actually like dripping my 3 mg nic in max better even than vaping. I drip using 3 mg nic on a Istick 50 watt set about 23 watts with a draw of about 2.5 seconds and the coils reading says 1.6 ohms and the air holes blocked a tad on the el diablo bael. I vape on the Istick 20 watts somewhere around 7 to 8 watts on factory coil of 1.8 in a nautilaus mini
my questions: 1) does sub ohm in a rebuildable tank give flavour similar to a dripper
drippers seem to require higher watts is this in anyway suggested as less healthy ( I am not too concerned about the increased supposed formaldehyde issue I believe Dr F had issue with the research and in my opinion I probably breathe more formaldehyde off gassing wandering around carpets and insulation and pressboard)
2) the nic level is quite a bit lower in the dripper Does this actually translate to a drop in nicotine/contine levels in my blood in other words would I need to drip more to keep my nic levels somewhat reasonable re setting off " the I want a smoke brain run"
3 if I were to drip only for 3 or 4 days am I likely to find my 12 mg vape to strong
thanks for any insight you might provide