Yes, there are that many flavors containing diacetyl...and there are just as many that contain acetyl proprionyl & acetoin (other "butter" flavors), especially since diacetyl has been limited or removed from many 'vaping flavors'. Acetyl proprionyl has been shown to be just as dangerous as diacetyl. Acetoin is bad news, too (especially when combined with certain chemicals).
Most don't seem to realize that it takes several hundred individual chemicals to create just one 'simple' flavor (like strawberry). Read more about 'flavor chemistry' here (a great overview, including info on 'natural flavors'): Food Labs Use An Average of 2000 Chemicals To Create 500 'Natural Flavors' You Would Never Suspect Are Artificial
When we make a juice involving 4-5 flavors, we're actually chemists mixing THOUSANDS of (unknown mostly) chemicals. For example, when we mix coffee + chocolate + cream + other + vg + pg + nic...this is not the mere handful chemicals most imagine (vs the thousands found in burning tobacco plus the hundreds possible additives). An e-juice containing several compound flavors is also THOUSANDS of chemicals (plus all the chemicals that are formed by the chemical interactions & the heat).
Of course, every natural plant & food also contains several hundred chemicals (even thousands), but there's a major difference between 'white chemical powder isolates & synthetics' and those found in natural foods where the levels, synergy & interactions have proven to be safe for ingestion throughout time.
When health is a concern, we suggest doing everything possible to lessen the level of chemicals. Knowledge is the key. Learn the tips n' tricks to keep the 'flavors' to a minimum:
--use VG diluted with distilled water & saline solution rather than PG (or minimize the PG). PG is more dehydrating and has a musty flavor that can only be covered by using more chemicals. .9% sterile saline solution seriously ENHANCES flavors (which equals less chemicals needed), and it's very safe, hydrating & soothing to vape. Some say distilled water also enhances flavor a bit.
--minimize or eliminate "additives" that are known to diminish flavor in a juice -- those are EM, vinegar, lemon juice/citric acid, and sucralose. We've been DIYing for almost a year, and have only used sucralose once or twice; we've used EM very sparingly. The one time we used more than a few drops of sucralose, 3-4 days later the juice was 'dead' (it really had lost 30-50% of it's flavor. Look at recipes - anytime one sees 1-3% sweetener or EM, invariably one sees high flavor percentages. One of us has a major sweet tooth - yet we've never needed added sweetener.
--Vape Wizard, Magic Mask (FA) and Smooth (TFA) are chemical blends designed to 'take off rough edges' and smooth/enhance vapor. They do this not by changing or adding flavor/chemicals, but by a designer chemical cocktail that actually alters the actions of our taste buds/receptors temporarily. Like diacetyl, these chemicals are "approved as safe" for eating. Who knows what they'll alter 'temporarily' when mainlined into our bloodstream via inhalation.
Back to diacetyl/similar; from here: CDC - NIOSH Update - Diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione: NIOSH Seeks Comment On Draft Criteria Document
For Diacetyl, a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 5 parts per billion (ppb) as an eight-hour, time-weighted average, (TWA) during a 40-hour work week. To further protect against effects of short-term exposures, NIOSH recommends in the draft document a short-term exposure limit (STEL) for diacetyl of 25 ppb for a 15-minute time period.
How much is 5 - 25 parts per billion? It's 0000005% - 0000025%
What's the percentage of diacetyl in that 100mls of juice? .00012%
Using this "ppb calculator" Parts Per Billion Conversion Chart (Fractions and Percent Converter, Percentages And Parts), we find one must enter 1200 ppb to equal .00012%
So, vaping that particular flavoring at 2% means we'd be vaping 1200 parts per billion, when the 'safe zone' for short term exposure/inhalation is 25 parts per billion.
Yes, we DO have reason to avoid these chemicals. Even if they're 50 or 75% less than the example, we'd still be in the 300-600 ppb zone. Of course, the raspberry flavor starts at .00009% diacetyl, and that works out to WAY less than 1ppb (around .012 ppb, if I calculated quickly correctly).
Most don't seem to realize that it takes several hundred individual chemicals to create just one 'simple' flavor (like strawberry). Read more about 'flavor chemistry' here (a great overview, including info on 'natural flavors'): Food Labs Use An Average of 2000 Chemicals To Create 500 'Natural Flavors' You Would Never Suspect Are Artificial
When we make a juice involving 4-5 flavors, we're actually chemists mixing THOUSANDS of (unknown mostly) chemicals. For example, when we mix coffee + chocolate + cream + other + vg + pg + nic...this is not the mere handful chemicals most imagine (vs the thousands found in burning tobacco plus the hundreds possible additives). An e-juice containing several compound flavors is also THOUSANDS of chemicals (plus all the chemicals that are formed by the chemical interactions & the heat).
Of course, every natural plant & food also contains several hundred chemicals (even thousands), but there's a major difference between 'white chemical powder isolates & synthetics' and those found in natural foods where the levels, synergy & interactions have proven to be safe for ingestion throughout time.
When health is a concern, we suggest doing everything possible to lessen the level of chemicals. Knowledge is the key. Learn the tips n' tricks to keep the 'flavors' to a minimum:
--use VG diluted with distilled water & saline solution rather than PG (or minimize the PG). PG is more dehydrating and has a musty flavor that can only be covered by using more chemicals. .9% sterile saline solution seriously ENHANCES flavors (which equals less chemicals needed), and it's very safe, hydrating & soothing to vape. Some say distilled water also enhances flavor a bit.
--minimize or eliminate "additives" that are known to diminish flavor in a juice -- those are EM, vinegar, lemon juice/citric acid, and sucralose. We've been DIYing for almost a year, and have only used sucralose once or twice; we've used EM very sparingly. The one time we used more than a few drops of sucralose, 3-4 days later the juice was 'dead' (it really had lost 30-50% of it's flavor. Look at recipes - anytime one sees 1-3% sweetener or EM, invariably one sees high flavor percentages. One of us has a major sweet tooth - yet we've never needed added sweetener.
--Vape Wizard, Magic Mask (FA) and Smooth (TFA) are chemical blends designed to 'take off rough edges' and smooth/enhance vapor. They do this not by changing or adding flavor/chemicals, but by a designer chemical cocktail that actually alters the actions of our taste buds/receptors temporarily. Like diacetyl, these chemicals are "approved as safe" for eating. Who knows what they'll alter 'temporarily' when mainlined into our bloodstream via inhalation.
Back to diacetyl/similar; from here: CDC - NIOSH Update - Diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione: NIOSH Seeks Comment On Draft Criteria Document
For Diacetyl, a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 5 parts per billion (ppb) as an eight-hour, time-weighted average, (TWA) during a 40-hour work week. To further protect against effects of short-term exposures, NIOSH recommends in the draft document a short-term exposure limit (STEL) for diacetyl of 25 ppb for a 15-minute time period.
How much is 5 - 25 parts per billion? It's 0000005% - 0000025%
What's the percentage of diacetyl in that 100mls of juice? .00012%
Using this "ppb calculator" Parts Per Billion Conversion Chart (Fractions and Percent Converter, Percentages And Parts), we find one must enter 1200 ppb to equal .00012%
So, vaping that particular flavoring at 2% means we'd be vaping 1200 parts per billion, when the 'safe zone' for short term exposure/inhalation is 25 parts per billion.
Yes, we DO have reason to avoid these chemicals. Even if they're 50 or 75% less than the example, we'd still be in the 300-600 ppb zone. Of course, the raspberry flavor starts at .00009% diacetyl, and that works out to WAY less than 1ppb (around .012 ppb, if I calculated quickly correctly).
